COLUMBIA, Mo. – It was a tale of two games for Missouri Baptist University on Day 2 of the American Midwest Conference Softball Championship. Host and No. 3-seed Columbia College proved to have MBU's number for a third time this season in a 5-0 shutout, but the Spartans finally snapped out their offensive funk and captured a 5-4 win over Lyon in the 1:30 p.m. game.
With the come-from-behind win over the Scots, Missouri Baptist kept their season alive and will take on Columbia College at 11 a.m. on Thursday weather permitting. Because it is double elimination in Pool Play, the Spartans will need to defeat the Cougars back-to-back in order to advance to the championship set for Friday and Saturday, if necessary.
The offensive momentum from the Lyon game will need to carry over into tomorrow's contest. In three meetings this year, Columbia has outscored MBU 22-1 and has yielded just seven hits.
Pool B – Game 5 | No. 7-Seed Missouri Baptist 5, No. 2-Seed Lyon 4
Lyon's Cheyenne Black wasted little time in the elimination game putting the Scots on the board as she delivered a solo home run in the top half of the first inning. Meanwhile, the Spartans offensive drought continued until the bottom of the second. After 12 innings without a hit,
Erica Hixson came through with a single to right field. Despite the Hixson hit and several baserunners, the Spartans struggled to give
Ally Dunaway any run support early on.
Lyon tacked on another run in the third via another clutch hit from Cheyenne Black, this time a line drive down the left field line resulting in a 2-out RBI double.
The two teams were locked into a defensive battle from the bottom of the third on. That is until the flood gates opened for MBU in the bottom of the sixth. It started with a lead-off walk for
Caitlin McNiff.
Reily Kassay, who entered the game to pinch run for McNiff, did her job by stealing second and getting into scoring position. The move paid off for the Spartans as
Meagan Elder punched an RBI single to left-center. Following a SAC bunt,
Cami Meddows got in on the RBI action with a single to center to even the ballgame at 2-all. The big sixth inning continued as DP
Miranda Brown sent another single to center and scored Meddows to give the Spartans their first lead of the game.
No. 2-seed Lyon made the Spartans work for the win as it came through with a 2-run, 3-hit inning in the top of the seventh to regain the lead at 4-3.
With one out already, 2B
Jordan Corby got the bats rolling with a single, but a strike out immediately afterwards meant the Spartans were in need a 2-out rally. Elder, who already had an RBI in the game, provided another quality at-bat with an RBI double and near walk-off home run that bounced off the right field fence.
Meghan Mollet popped one up to first in what looked to be the final out, however wind made things difficult for Lyon to field it and the ball dropped fair. Elder moved around to third on the play. In walk-off fashion,
Cami Meddows provided the gamewinner during the next at-bat.
Cami Meddows led the way offensively hitting 3-for-4 with two RBI and one run. Elder had a similar outing with two hits, two RBI and one run in four plate appearances.
Ally Dunaway held the Scots in check for most of the game going 6.1 innings with four strikeouts while giving up six hits.
Baleigh Koester got credit for the win pitching 0.2 innings of relief while coming into the game with a deficit.
Pool B – Game 4 | No. 3-Seed Columbia 5, No. 7-Seed Missouri Baptist 0
Wednesday's 11 a.m. matchup in Pool B had the Spartans paired with a no-loss Columbia College squad. Both schools had a common goal in mind and that was to take the driver's seat in Pool B. Unfortunately, the Spartans were not only shut out by the Cougars, 5-0, but were also no hit by CC pitcher Lexi Dickerson.
MBU starting pitcher and AMC All-Conference honoree
Baleigh Koester tossed a complete game and had another solid outing following her standout performance yesterday. The freshman from Carterville, Ill., finished with a final stat line of 7.0 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 K. Ultimately, quiet bats and four Spartan errors played the biggest role in the 5-0 loss.
