CLERMONT, Fla. – Things are starting to click for the Missouri Baptist softball team and it showed on Friday with a doubleheader sweep of Indiana University at South Bend and Concordia University-Ann Arbor.
 
Winners in four of their past five games, the Spartans (6-7, 0-0 AMC) arrived at the sweep with different scenarios. In Game One, MBU gave up a run to IU South Bend in the first inning, but scored four unanswered in the second and third innings to secure the 4-1 win. In the back half of the doubleheader, Missouri Baptist tallied the first run of the game and quashed multiple comeback attempts by Concordia (Mich.) in a 3-2 win.
 
Both pitchers for the Spartans – Delissa Dennison and Ally Dunaway – logged complete games and were rock-solid in their starts on Friday. Fresh of her 13-strikeout performance against Lourdes on Thursday, Delissa Dennison gave up just one earned run on the afternoon to go along with 5 strikeouts. The junior righthander from Staunton, Ill. is averaging 7.43 Ks per outing and one strikeout per inning.  Ally Dunaway yielded six hits and two earned runs in her start vs. Concordia and continues to be extremely efficient with her pitch count. The sophomore lefty currently leads the American Midwest Conference in walks allowed per game (0.48).
 
Missouri Baptist will look to build on their three-game winning streak when they conclude their stay at the PFX Spring Games on Saturday with a pair of rematches in Lourdes (Ohio) and Concordia (Mich.). Games are set for 8:15 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. CT. The first game will have live stats provided by the Lourdes University Athletics Department – https://lourdesathletics.com/sidearmstats/softball/summary.
 
Missouri Baptist University 4, Indiana University at South Bend 1
The Titans from South Bend, Ind. were effective at the plate in the first inning and the first inning only. Three consecutive singles propelled IU South Bend to its only run of the game. After amassing the three hits in the opening frame, Dennison shut down the Titans as they managed just two hits the rest of the way.
 
In quick fashion, MBU responded the next time out thanks to a pair of doubles by Meagan Elder and Cami Meddows. The Spartans scored two in the second inning including the go-ahead run scored by Ally Gischer.
 
For safe measure, the Spartans tacked on two additional runs in the third inning with two familiar names in Meagan Elder with a sacrifice RBI and Ally Gischer with an RBI single. Joining Gischer with two hits in the game was leadoff batter Jordan Corby (2 H, 1 R).
 
Missouri Baptist University 3, Concordia University-Ann Arbor 2
Shortstop Ally Gischer was back at it in the second game, doubling down the left field line to give the Spartans an offensive boost early on. Kept alive by a Cardinal miscue with two outs, the Spartans made them pay as Gischer advanced all the way home from second on the error. Concordia escaped further damage stranding a pair of MBU baserunners on second and third.
 
The Cardinals evened things at 1-1 in the top of the third with a Lyndsey Ryba RBI triple. As they have been doing the past two days, the Spartans provided a counterattack and notched two runs in the bottom half of the inning. Smart baserunning was key in Missouri Baptist's two-run third inning with Jordan Corby stealing second and scoring from second off another CUAA error. Later in the inning, the Spartans successfully completed a double steal with Ally Gischer stealing home while Madalyn Bone made it safely to second.
 
Neither team could get anything going in the 4^th, 5^th and 6^th innings, but the Cardinals gave it their best shot in the final frame. Concordia's Melanie Richardson and Cierra Woods led off the inning with a single and double to score one run and narrow the lead to 3-2. With zero outs, a tying-runner in scoring position and their backs against the wall, the Spartans buckled down and finished off the Cardinals with three straight outs.
 
Meagan Elder led the Spartans with two hits, marking her fourth multi-hit performance this year.