SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - The Missouri State Bears pounded out 21 hits to snap out of a recent offensive slump and sweep a doubleheader from UMKC at Killian Stadium Tuesday afternoon. MSU cruised to a 9-1 win in five innings to kick-off the twin bill, then rallied from a three-run deficit to claim a 5-4 victory in the second game.
Sophomore Caitlin Chapin led the resurgent Missouri State offense, going 4-for-5 with five RBIs and three runs scored on the afternoon. Her two-out, bases-loaded single in the fifth inning proved to be the key hit in the nightcap, completely erasing a 4-1 UMKC advantage when the ball got past the Kangaroo left fielder to allow all three baserunners to score.
Junior pitcher Natalie Rose (12-14) also came up big for Missouri State, picking up both victories after fanning 10 UMKC hitters and allowing just three hits over 7.1 innings of work for the day.
Missouri State scored in every inning of the first game, breaking out of a recent hitting slump to post season highs for runs (9) and hits (12). The Bears' top five hitters in the lineup enjoyed a near-perfect game at the plate, going a combined 9-for-11.
Chapin (2-for-2) led the way with a double, three RBIs and two runs scored, while Ashley Knehans matched a career high with three hits.
Missouri State struck for two runs in each of the first two innings of game one, taking advantage of a pair of UMKC fielding miscues to grab a four-run lead. Kirstin Cutter led-off the first with an infield single to shortstop and advanced to second when Tyler Porter's bunt was mishandled by UMKC starting pitcher Emily Ott. Jenna Schwark followed with a sacrifice to move both runners into scoring position before Chapin drove in the game's first run with a sacrifice fly to center. Knehans then chased Porter home with a double off the right-center field wall to make it a 2-0 contest.
The Bears kept the pressure on the following inning, using the first of Heather Duckworth's two doubles in the game to set the table for another two-run rally. Duckworth came around via a dropped throw on Madison Hargrove's sacrifice attempt, and Porter added a run-scoring single to center to stretch the margin to four runs.
UMKC got on the board in the third, as Danielle Bennefeld doubled and scored on Ashley Whiteside's one-out squeeze bunt.
But MSU answered the Kangaroos' run with a single tally in the bottom half of the third when Duckworth doubled home Chapin to make it a 5-1 affair. The Bears put the game away the following inning, batting around and scoring four times on five hits to push their lead to eight runs. Chapin's two-run single up the middle highlighted the frame, and Duckworth drove in her second run in as many innings with a fielder's choice grounder to short.
Rose put the game away with a one-two-three top of the fifth to close out the two-hit victory. The right-hander struck-out four Kangaroos in the complete-game effort.
Game two saw the Kangaroos snap a 1-1 tie with a two-run fourth inning rally. Megan Ussery swiped home on a double steal to hand UMKC the lead, and pinch-hitter Katie Henning executed a squeeze to plate Bennefeld with the third run of the game for the visitors.
UMKC (23-14) would tack on another run in the fifth with the aid of a Missouri State error, as Ott drove in Kelly Fischer to make it a 4-1 ball game.
But MSU rallied with two out in its half of the inning, getting singles from Christa Gammon and Porter before Raeven Replogle was hit by a Deanna Friese (17-7) pitch to load the bases. That's when Chapin came through with the Bears' first hit of the season with the bases loaded, hammering a 2-2 offering into left and racing all the way to third when the ball skipped past Sokolik to allow Replogle to come around with the tying run. Knehans followed with another single to left, this one putting the Bears on top for good.
Rose, who entered the game in relief in the top of the fifth for starter Savannah Wiggins, shut-down the Kangaroos in short order. She would allow just one hit while striking-out six over 2 1/3 innings to wrap up the sweep.
Duckworth drove in three runs on three doubles in six at-bats, while Knehans went 4-for-6 on the day.
Up next, Missouri State (17-17) embarks on an eight-game road swing when they open a three-game Missouri Valley Conference series with Bradley Saturday in Peoria at noon.
-MSU-
