Feb. 8, 2015 Box Score
RUSTON, La. - Two big innings powered the Missouri State softball team (4-1) to a tournament-concluding 9-2 victory over the host Bulldogs (2-3) at the Louisiana Tech Invitational in Ruston, La., on Sunday afternoon.
Senior starting pitcher Chelsea Jones pitched 5.1 solid innings striking out five in her second start of the season. At the plate, Jones went 1-for-2 with a walk and 2 runs batted in to help her own cause.
Freshman third baseman Chelsea Thomas went 2-for-4 with a home run, three RBI and two runs scored. Olivia Roark added two hits, drove in a run and scored a run. Mary Stephens contributed two hits as well.
Sophomore pitcher Erin Struemph entered with two on and one out in the sixth. She struck out four batters in 1.2 innings pitched and earned her second save of the season.
The Bears broke through in a big way in the third inning. Elena Gambill began the rally with a walk. Back-to-back singles by Chelsea Thomas and Hailee Vigneaux loaded the bases. Erika Velasquez Zimmer drew a walk to push home the first run. Olivia Roark reached on her second infield single of the game to up the lead to 2-0. After a wild pitch plated the third run, Rebecca McPherson walked to reload the bases. Another wild pitch moved runners to second and third, but the runner attempting to score was tagged out. Kaitlin Beason followed and ground to short, but the throw home was not applied to the runner resulting in the fourth run for MSU. Two batters later, Chelsea Jones doubled off the third base bag to plate two more runs and give the Bears a 6-0 advantage.
Vigneaux reached on a one-out infield single in the fourth and advanced to second on a throwing error, but was stranded at third to end the inning. In the bottom half of the frame, her threw from the wall in right cut down a runner at second attempting to stretch a single.
In the Bears' fifth, McPherson was hit by a pitch to begin the inning. After a double play cleared the bases, Mary Stephens singled through the right side. A walk to Chelsea Jones and another hit by pitch to Gambill loaded the bases. But LA Tech's third pitcher of the day came in to thwart the rally.
Again in the sixth, MSU threatened. Velasquez Zimmer walked for the second time in the game. She moved to third two batters later on a single to right by McPherson.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Bulldogs got on the board with a pair of runs, but Struemph came in and shut down LA Tech.
MSU tacked on to the lead in the seventh. Stephens singled to left to lead off the inning. Chelsea Jones followed and her sacrifice bunt was bobbled and she reached safely. Two batters later, Thomas blasted a three-run home run to left to blow the game open.
The Bears will travel to College Station, Texas, next weekend for five games at the Texas A&M Aggie Classic beginning on Friday at 10:00 a.m. against Eastern Michigan. MSU will play The Eagles and Penn State twice each before closing the weekend against the host Aggies on Sunday.
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