April 23, 2016 Box Score
UPDATE: Due to forecasted late afternoon rain in the Cedar Falls area, the series finale between Missouri State and Northern Iowa will be moved up to an 11:00 a.m. first pitch.
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- On a windy day in Cedar Falls, the Missouri State softball team (16-27, 5-12) blew a lead in each game as the home-standing Northern Iowa Panthers (34-13, 13-5) rallied for 4-2 and 11-8 wins on Saturday.
Junior pitcher Erin Struemph recorded three strikeouts in a game two start to pass Kellie Becher for fifth in school history with 448 career strikeouts.
Juniors Olivia Roark and Elena Gambill along with sophomore Madison Jones each recorded three hits on the day. Gambill drove in three and scored two runs. Jones also scored twice and Roark scored once.
Sophomore Kaitlin Beason had a big hit in each game. She drove in three runs over the doubleheader and scored on her sixth home run of the season. Sophomore Hailee Vigneaux and freshman Darian Frost each had a pair of hits in game two with each scoring a run.
"We out-hit UNI in both games and that's hard to do because they are a good-hitting team," said head coach Holly Hesse. "That's a great sign for us offensively. It's just disappointing to do so many things well and still suffer the loss."
Game 1 -- Missouri State 2, UNI 4
Roark began the game with a bunt single to shortstop. Two batters later, she moved into scoring position when Erin Duewel was walked. Mary Stephens dropped a single in behind the first baseman and the play resulted in runners at the corners. Bethany Sullinger singled sharply off the third base bag to score Roark for a 1-0 Bears advantage.
In the fifth inning, Beason led off with a solo home run to center field. It was her sixth long ball of the year and doubled the MSU lead. Gambill followed with a walk and Roark reached on a bunt single, but both were stranded in scoring position.
UNI hit a solo home run in the fifth inning to cut the Bears' lead in half. In the sixth, the Panthers hit two more home runs to put the Bears behind, 4-2.
Game 2 -- Missouri State 8, UNI 11
Both offenses were quiet until the Bears' half of the fourth. Madison Jones led off with an infield single. Duewel sacrificed her into scoring position and she moved to third on a wild pitch. Sullinger grounded out to third to push home the first run of the game. Stephens and Frost singled back-to-back to continue the inning. That brought up Gambill, who drilled a pitch deep over the left field fence to put MSU up 4-0.
UNI answered back with a single and a two-run home run in the bottom of the fourth, the first hits off Struemph.
MSU put the pressure on again in the fifth. A leadoff single by Vigneaux set the table for the rally. Two batters later, Madison Jones reached on an infield single and both runners moved into scoring position on a throwing error. Duewel then doubled to center, plating both runs to up the MSU lead to 6-2.
The Panthers sent 11 batters to the plate in the bottom of the fifth. UNI scored eight runs on two homers and benefited from three walks and a big MSU miscue.
The Bears got a one-out rally going when Gambill singled up the middle. Pinch hitter Allie Alvstad was hit by the first pitch of her at-bat. Vigneaux followed and reached on an infield single to load the bases. Pinch hitter Beason dropped a double inside the line in the right field corner to push home two runs. But UNI countered by putting Chelsea Ross in the circle and she worked out of the jam, stranding both runners in scoring position.
UNI added an insurance run in the sixth on a two-out solo home run. Frost singled with two outs in the seventh, but MSU fell, 11-8.
MSU and UNI will wrap up the series in Cedar Falls on Sunday at noon. On Tuesday, Missouri State will travel to Wichita State for the series finale at 6:00 p.m. The Bears return to Killian Stadium on Wednesday for a single game at 5:00 p.m. against SIU Edwardsville.
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