HENDERSON, Tenn. – The Missouri Baptist University softball team came up short at Freed-Hardeman University on Saturday in a pair of one-run contests to end its regular season. The Lady Lions squeaked out wins of 1-0 and 2-1 on Saturday to lock up the No. 5 seed for the upcoming American Midwest Conference (AMC) Tournament.
With the losses, Missouri Baptist dropped to 19-22 overall and 11-13 in conference. Up next for the Spartans is the 2019 AMC Softball Championship, which will be held in Columbia, Missouri at Antimi Sports Complex. Earning the No. 8 seed, MBU will face the top seed and No. 23-ranked Columbia College in the first game of Pool Play at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, April 30.
Game One turned out to be a low-scoring affair and a battle between two of the AMC's top arms. Despite Missouri Baptist out-hitting the Lady Lions, 7-5, the Spartans' run support was unable to match the exceptional pitching.
Freed-Hardeman needed just one run in the game to secure the 1-0 victory. FHU pitcher Morgan Crawford tossed seven scoreless innings to collect her fifth shutout of the year.
The Lady Lions' run came in the bottom of the 1
st when Kalyn Graham recorded a solo homer, her AMC-leading 13
th of the season.
Aside from the one-run setback in the first, MBU's ace pitcher
Delissa Dennison logged another solid outing (6.0 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 5 K, 0 BB). Offensively,
Jordan Corby led the Spartans in Game One going 2-for-3 at the plate.
Madalyn Bone,
Rachel Galbraith,
Cami Meddows,
Ally Gischer and
Tomi Dublo all had one hit apiece as well.
Game Two was another close contest separated by just one run in the end. And like the series opener, FHU opened the game with a run in the first inning to start the scoring. The Spartans were able to avoid further damage and got out a jam with runners on 2
nd and 3
rd with just one out. Pitcher
Ally Dunaway got FHU's Lily Bombard to pop out on a bunt and completed the 2-5 double play (Elder to Dublo).
It was slow going for the MBU offense as they went 3-up, 3-down in both the second and third innings. Down 2-0, the Spartans scored their only run of the day in the top of the 4
th.
Cami Meddows singled to get on base along with
Meagan Elder reaching on an error. 1B
Sydney Engelhart, who was filling in for an injured
Caitlin McNiff, drove in Meddows on a SAC fly to right field. The Engelhart RBI narrowed the gap to 2-1, however, that was the final time the Spartans had runners in scoring position the rest of the way.
Freed-Hardeman held the offensive advantage in the back end of the doubleheader with 11 hits compared to MBU's 4. Corby, Meddows, Mobbs and Gischer each had one hit apiece.
Ally Dunaway and
Addison Rinderer split time in the circle in Game Two. Dunaway, who made the start, lasted five innings allowing 11 hits, 2 earned runs while accumulating three strikeouts. Freshman
Addison Rinderer was inserted into the lineup in the sixth inning and struck out two of the three batters she retired.
