Joplin, Mo. - The 13th ranked Missouri Southern softball program opened up the Central Regional Tournament with a 3-2 walk-off win over Minnesota - Duluth on Thursday, May 11th at the Pat Lipira Softball Complex.
The Lions (41-13) were led by
Emily Perry going 2-for-3 with a home run as
Kara Amos claimed the win with 2.2 shutout and no-hit innings in relief while striking out one.
Minnesota - Duluth (40-12) scored first with an RBI single to center field in the third giving the Bulldogs an early 1-0 lead. In the bottom half of the third Southern responded with a throwing error by UMD allowing
Grace Parrott to score for a 1-1 tie.Â
Perry hit her eighth home run of the season to give the Lions a 2-1 lead they would hold onto until the fifth inning when a solo home run by UMD tied it up 2-2. Neither team would score in the sixth and the Bulldogs were shutout in the seventh to pave the way for a potential walk-off. Southern began the seventh with a Perry single up the middle and an
Ashlynn Williams single to the pitcher for runners on first and second, a groundout to second base for the second out of the inning allowed both runners to advance a base with
Sidnie Hurst pinch running at third scoring the winning run following an error in the Bulldogs infield.
As a program this was the Lions fifth win to begin a regional tournament, third win in the series overall against Minnesota - Duluth and the first win over the Bulldogs in NCAA postseason action.
Up next for the Lions will be sixth seed Southern Arkansas at 2:30 p.m. on Friday, May 12th at the Pat Lipira Softball Complex with the winner advancing to the potential championship game on Saturday, May 13th at 11:00 a.m. and the loser having to play in an elimination game at 7:30 p.m. on Friday against the winner of the Minnesota - Duluth vs. Rogers State game.
