Van Buren, Ark. -- The Missouri Southern
softball team split a double-header today with Ouchita Baptist,
falling 6-0 in the first game, but behind a seventh-inning home run
from Brooke Hurley, won game two by the score of 2-1.
Southern (9-17-1) fell victim from good pitching in game one as
OBU (25-11) no-hit the Lions for a 6-0 victory.
The Lions, however, returned the favor with a 2-1 victory in
game two. OBU scored first with a run in the first inning, but the
Lions tied it up with a run of their own in the third. Breanna
Volkmann walked and moved to second on a ground out from Kelli Bax.
Dawn Grass then singled up the middle to score Volkmann.
OBU had opportunities to score and go ahead twice later in the
game, but defensive gems from Natalie Nelson thwarted its efforts.
Nelson threw a runner out at home to end a rally in the sixth and
then later dove for a catch down the left field line in the
seventh.
Then in the the Lions' half of the seventh, Hurley, with a 3-2
count, took a pitch over the left centerfield wall to win it for
the Lions.
Tiffany Bennett started game two and went the distance. Volkmann
was 2-2 with a double and two walks, while Bax and Grass had a hit
each.
The Lions are back in action this weekend with the start of MIAA
play, travelling to Northwest Missouri and Nebraska-Omaha.