COLUMBIA, Mo. – The Missouri Baptist University softball team bounced back from Wednesday's close losses to (RV) Columbia College by sweeping AMC opponent Stephens College on the road Friday. The Spartans held off a late rally by Stephens in Game One for a 7-5 win before a 14-0 shutout to complete the sweep.
 
It marks the fourth shutout of the year for Missouri Baptist softball, which improved to 14-15 overall and 8-6 in American Midwest Conference play. The Spartans will be back in action Saturday to celebrate Senior Day for Meagan Elder with an exhibition series against St. Louis Community College at 12 & 2 p.m. Following a day off, they will return to conference play on Monday with a makeup doubleheader at home with Hannibal-LaGrange.
 
The Spartans trailed early to begin Game One, but quickly regained the momentum with a four-run second inning. Heading into the fifth with a comfortable 7-2 lead, Missouri Baptist found itself fending off a late push by the home team after the Stars notched one run in the bottom of the 5^th and two more in the 6^th to narrow the lead to two. Despite yielding two runs, freshman Addison Rinderer was credited with the save, while Delissa Dennison earned the W in the circle.
 
Offensively, MBU got rolling on Friday combining for 25 hits and 21 runs between the two games. Multiple Spartans triggered the offensive fireworks including another big day from reigning Spartan Athlete of the Week Caitlin McNiff. The junior 1B started off the day with a 3-for-3 outing and was a single away from hitting for the cycle. Following up her Game One performance that included 3 RBI, 2 runs and a stolen base, she hit her second home run of the day in game two and also finished with 3 RBI. McNiff currently leads the team in both home runs (5) and RBI (24).
 
In MBU's 14-0 Game Two shutout, Ally Dunaway tossed a one-hitter and did so in dominating fashion. Without allowing a walk, the Stars' one hit in the bottom of the 2^nd spoiled Dunaway's perfect game attempt. Adding to the impressive feat was the fact that Dunaway threw just 34 pitches to retire the 15 batters faced.
 
Junior Rachel Galbraith extended her reached base streak to seven games and had a great day offensively going 4-for-7 with 3 runs and 5 RBI.
 
Another Spartan who frequented the box score in both ends of the doubleheader was designated player Madalyn Bone. The freshman from De Soto, Mo., went 5-for-7 from the plate with 3 runs, 3 RBI and 3 stolen bases.