Joplin, Mo. - The Missouri Southern Softball team began MIAA conference play at home against the Blue Tigers of Lincoln on Saturday, March 9 in a doubleheader. The Lions started the day off with a close 4-1 win in game one and followed that with a huge 14-4 run rule win in game two to sweep the Blue Tigers. The Lions advance to 18-5 (2-0 MIAA) on the season.
Missouri Southern vs. Lincoln - Game One
W, 4-1
The Blue Tigers took an early lead in the first with a run to begin the top of the first inning, 1-0.
Taylor Nuckolls returned with a sacrifice fly to drive in
Yazmin Vargas and tie the game at 1-1 after one inning. The Lions added an unanswered run in the bottom of the second with a
Madison Grimes RBI single to increase their lead to 2-1. The Lions defense continued to prevail as offensively they added two more runs from a
Kate Thurman RBI single in the fourth and a
Taylor Nuckolls sacrifice groundout to drive in Vargas as the Lions won game one 4-1.
Kiki Pickens (6-3) picked up the win for the Lions and pitched all 7.0 innings and gave up four hits and one earned run while striking out three of the 23 batters she faced.
Missouri Southern vs. Lincoln - Game Two
W, 14-4 /5 inn.
The Lions had their best start of the season in game two as the whole batting rotation made it on base with no outs and scored nine runs in the bottom of the first from a
Yazmin Vargas RBI double, two
Taylor Nuckolls RBI singles, a two-RBI single from
Katie Gray, a
Carsen Tinkler RBI single, a
Madison Grimes RBI bases loaded walk and a
Kylee Jacks RBI off a Lincoln error. The Blue Tigers returned with three runs in the top of the second to narrow the Lions lead to 9-3. The Lions added to their lead in the third with five runs off a
Yazmin Vargas RBI bunt, a
Taylor Nuckolls RBI triple and a
Katie Gray two-RBI reach on error. The Blue Tigers could only add one more run in the top of the fifth as the game ended by run rule in favor of the Lions, 14-4.
Lily Rand (2-2) picked up the win for the Lions and pitched 3.1 innings and gave up three hits and one earned run while striking out four of the 13 batters that she faced.Â
Up Next
The Missouri Southern Softball team will be back in Joplin to host another conference double-header tomorrow, March 10 at 1:00 PM and 3:00 PM against Central Missouri at Pat Lipira Softball Complex.
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