Softball Bears Get Split on First Day of Bama Bash
Game 1 Box Score | Game 2 Box Score | Season Stats
 
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Missouri State (7-5) earned a split here Friday on the opening day of the Easton Bama Bash, hosted by the University of Alabama.
 
The Bears used a seventh-inning hit to beat Louisiana Monroe, 4-3, before falling to the No. 6-ranked hosts from Alabama, 11-1 in five innings.
 
"In the first game, Erin Griesbauer had a great start and got us into the later innings with a lead," said MSU head coach Holly Hesse. "Steff (Dickerson) got a double play and then pitched a 1-2-3 seventh. And she also had the game-winning hit, so she was certainly great."
 
"In the second game, we definitely learned a lot by watching a team like Alabama," she continued. "They are on a whole different level with their hitting. I thought (Dickerson) did a great job against them in the first inning, then they made their adjustments and got to her in the second. Same thing with (Hunsaker) in the third and fourth. She got two strikeouts in the third, then they made some adjustments and had a big inning in the fourth."
 
The Bears will play the same two teams on Saturday, starting with a 10 a.m. game against ULM and then a 12:30 rematch with the Crimson Tide at Rhoads Stadium.
 
 
Game 1
Missouri State 4, Louisiana Monroe 3
 
Steffany Dickerson's RBI single to center with two outs in the seventh lifted the Bears to a 4-3 win in the opening game of the Easton Bama Bash on Friday afternoon.
 
Dickerson finished 2-for-4 and picked up the win in relief, allowing just one hit over the game's final 1.2 innings to improve to 4-2 in the circle.
 
Her game-winning hit followed late-inning walks to Rachel Weber and Kelly Metter to spark the rally. Weber, who was one of seven Bears to collect a hit in the game, scored the game-winning run.
 
The Bears plated two runs in the second inning after a Dickerson double and a pair of ULM errors scored Morgan Greenlee and Kelly Meter. MSU then made it 3-0 in the fifth on an RBI single by Daphne Plummer to bring Kyana Mason to the plate.
 
ULM (1-11) then tied the game in the bottom of the fifth as they scored a run on an RBI hit by Sydney McKay and two more on a double by Jessie Watts.
 
But Bailey Greenlee and Dickerson shut down the Warhawks from there, allowing just two hits the rest of the way to preserve the Bears' seventh win of the year.
 
Hunsaker also had two hits for the Bears in the win, while Griesbauer pitched 4.1 innings in a quality start, surrendering just four hits to the 20 batters she faced.
 
MSU out-hit ULM by a 9-6 margin, while the Warhawks committed five errors.
 
 
Game 2
Alabama 11 Missouri State 1 (5 innings)
 
No. 6-ranked Alabama scored four runs in the second and seven more in the fourth to post an 11-1 win over the Bears in a five-inning affair Friday evening.
 
Their second time through the order, the Bears were able to mount a rally in the fourth to break up Sarah Cornell's shutout. Plummer's single up the middle set the stage for Hunsaker's two-out base hit and put a pair of runners on. Morgan Greenlee then smashed a two-out hit to right to make it a 4-1 game at the time.
 
But the Crimson Tide (11-0) launched two more home runs in the fourth, one by Bailey Hemphill, her fourth of the year, and the other by Caroline Hardy, her second, as part of a seven-run rally.
 
MSU went down in order in the top of the fifth, ending the game on the run rule.
 
Four of Alabama's 11 hits were for extra bases, including three homers.
 
Dickerson (4-3) struck out three of the 13 batters she faced before giving way to Hunsaker who also fanned a pair of Alabama hitters in 1.0 innings. Griesbauer came on in relief in the fourth.
 
K.B. Sides went 3-for-3 for Alabama with a pair or RBI, while Merris Schroeder, who homered in the second, and Hardy each collected two hits.