Game 1 Box Score | Game 2 Box Score | Season Stats
 
SAN ANTONIO, Texas – The Missouri State softball team was perfect on day one of the UTSA Softball Classic and ground out one-run ball games against Prairie View A&M and Lamar, Friday at Roadrunner Field. The Bears edged out the Panthers 4-3 and shutout Lamar 1-0 in a fantastic pitcher's duel.
 
"Winning the close games like that is how you put together a good season," head coach Holly Hesse said. "The first game was an absolute grind. We got behind, but we stayed poised and calm and the team did a great job coming back to get the win. Game two was a great pitching duel and we did just enough right offensively to push across a run."
 
Missouri State 4, Prairie View A&M 3
The Bears, who have scored first in now five out of their six games, delivered the initial blow in the top of the first after senior Erika Velasquez Zimmer kicked off the contest with a walk. The speedster picked up her fifth stolen base of the season on the next pitch to put a runner in scoring position for MSU. Two outs later, fellow senior Kaitlin Beason stepped up to the dish and smoked a single up the middle that brought in the first run of the game.
 
Coming back in the top of the second, Prairie View A&M took the lead in the next frame after starting pitcher Erin Griesbauer surrendered a walk and a single that put runners in scoring position. A wild pitch and two batters later, PVAMU's Amanda Ford sent a single up the middle and brought in two runners to give the Panthers a 2-1 lead. PVAMU tacked on another run in the next frame, giving the visiting team a 3-1 advantage.
 
Missouri State used a three-run third inning to recapture the lead after Morgan Greenlee took advantage of a two-out error and reached first safely. Stepping in to pinch hit, freshman Madison Hunsaker smoked a clutch single through the right side to put runners on the corners for the Bears. Sara Jones re-entered at first for Hunsaker and made an immediate impact on the bases.
 
The next at-bat, the Bears pulled off a double steal and Greenlee slid home safely to cut the Panthers' lead to just one run. The next pitch, pinch hitter Allie Alvstad placed a single into center and Jones motored around and was called safe at home after the PVAMU catcher blocked the base path.
 
Forcing the final blow, Velasquez Zimmer used an RBI single into right field to bring around the Bears' fourth and final run of the game. After the lead change, senior hurler Holly Kelley came in to relieve Griesbauer and held the Panthers off for three more innings.
 
"I thought our pitch selection was good in the box," Hesse noted. "We barreled up a few balls that went out to the warning track and that is what we want to see from our hitters. We did a really good job of putting the ball in play."
 
Griesbauer was credited with the win and improves to 1-0 on the season. The Bears out-hit the Panthers 8-4 and freshman Daphne Plummer led the Bears with two hits. Six other Bears recorded singles in the team's inaugural meeting against PVAMU.
 
Missouri State 1, Lamar 0
In an exciting pitcher's duel, freshman Steffany Dickerson and the Bears ground out a 1-0 victory over the Lamar Cardinals. Dickerson, who earned the first win of her Missouri State career, picked up nine strikeouts through seven innings of work and limited the Cardinals to just three hits.
 
"Steffany is so confident out in the circle," Hesse added. "She showed good command today. I thought her off-speed curve was just phenomenal and she was able to get a lot of strikeouts with that pitch. Any time we have that kind of effort in the circle, it makes it a lot easier to play great defense behind it."
 
Both squads showed noteworthy defense, making big plays left and right. Early in the second inning, Beason nearly blasted a shot over the center-field fence, but it ricocheted off of the top of the fence and the Bears settled for a double. Recording the MSU's first hit of the matchup, Beason was stranded after a strikeout and two easy outs ended the inning.
 
Plummer extended her hitting streak to now six consecutive games after she sliced a single into left field to start the bottom of the fourth. The newcomer, who tallied two hits and one run, started a two-out rally in the bottom of the sixth with her second single of the contest. Beason followed suit, smashing a single up the middle and the pair were moved into scoring position after Madison Hunsaker drew a two-out walk. With bases juiced and a 1-2 count, junior catcher Darian Frost ended the scoreless deadlock and drove in the game-winning run on a single up the middle.
 
Lamar threatened to even up the score in the top of the seventh as Kelly Meeuwsen led off the charge with a double into deep, left-center field. Despite the leadoff double, Dickerson responded with a pair of strikeouts and a pop up to centerfield to clinch the thrilling, one-run game. With the win, Missouri State improved to 4-2 overall on the season and 4-1 in their last five games.
 
Coming Up Next
The Bears return to Roadrunner Field tomorrow for a 2 p.m. contest against Kansas and will then wrap up the day's games against host UTSA at 7 p.m. Live stats and live updates will be available for both games. For all the latest information on the Missouri State softball team, visit missouristatebears.com or follow @MSUSoftball on Twitter.