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ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Starting pitcher Erin Griesbauer tossed five scoreless innings and junior Morgan Greenlee blasted the first home run of her career in the Missouri State softball team's 6-3 victory over the Saint Louis Billikens, Wednesday at Billikens Sport Complex.
 
In her fifth win of the season, Griesbauer surrendered just four hits in five scoreless innings. The MSU offense combined for 11 hits to mark the Bears' ninth double-digit hit game of the season.
 
The Bears found themselves in a one-out, bases-loaded situation early in the second inning, but a force at the plate and line-out at second base ended the threat. MSU put pressure on the Billikens again in the third, but the lineup couldn't string together a hit to bring in a run.
 
Breaking through the Saint Louis defense in the fourth, Greenlee launched the first home run of her career off Billikens hurler Maddie Baalman to put the Bears up, 1-0. Senior Sara Jones immediately followed the dinger with a walk and Madison Jones produced an infield single to put runners on first and second.
 
After speedster Erika Velasquez Zimmer laid down a stifling bunt, newcomer Daphne Plummer blasted a single through the right side that brought in another two runs. With just one out, Saint Louis chose to relieve Baalman with Kallan Loveless and the Bears immediately took advantage of the switch.
 
Following a Darian Frost walk, Kaitlin Beason drilled an RBI single to third and Kelly Metter made it a 5-0 ball game on a fielder's choice to second base.
 
MSU tacked on one more run in the top of the fifth when Jones began the inning with a single into right center. She smoked the ball past the Billikens' second baseman and a fielding error in right put her on second. On two outs, Plummer collected her third RBI of the day and put the Bears up, 6-0, thanks to a scorched, RBI single up the middle.
 
After Griesbauer held Saint Louis scoreless through five complete innings, freshman Steffany Dickerson took over the circle in the bottom of the sixth and set down the Billikens in order in her 14^th appearance of the season. However, the Billikens tried to make a comeback late in the seventh inning and strung together three runs on two hits and one error. Even though the Billikens cut into MSU's lead, 6-3, the Bear defense stood firm and closed out the game with a grounder to the circle.
 
With the win, MSU improves to 19-12 overall and a perfect 2-0 against in-state opponents this season.
 
Coming Up Next
The Bears return to Killian Stadium on Friday, Mar. 30, for a conference matchup against UNI. Due to the change of location, MSU will serve as the visiting team for the three-game series. Live stats and live updates will be available for the game. For all the latest information on the Missouri State softball team, visit missouristatebears.com or follow @MSUSoftball on Twitter.