Game 1 Box Score | Game 2 Box Score | Season Stats

DENTON, Texas - Seven innings of scoreless ball from pitcher Erin Griesbauer and a pair of home runs off the bats of Tess Weakly and Darian Frost pushed Missouri State to an 8-0 victory over UT Martin here in game one of the North Texas Invitational.  The Bears later came up short in a pitcher's duel against host North Texas, falling 2-1 in extra innings to close out the tournament with a 2-2 record.
 
"We showed a lot of improvement in all areas of the game this weekend," said head coach Holly Hesse.  "Our pitching was outstanding today with Erin and Steff (Dickerson), and the defense made a lot of impressive plays behind them as well.  Offensively, Tess and Olivia (Krehbiel) provided sparks for us in key spots, but the whole lineup really improved at the plate."
 
After having next weekend off, the Bears (3-6) will be back on the diamond for the Ole Miss Classic, beginning with games on Feb. 28 versus California Baptist and Jackson State. MSU will face host Ole Miss on Feb. 29 with the semifinals of the tournament scheduled for later that evening and the finals to follow on March 1.
 
Game 1
Bears 8, UT Martin 0
In her third start of the year, Griesbauer (1-2) gave up just four hits and added four strikeouts for her first win as the Bears shut out UT Martin, 8-0. 

MSU wasted no time in scoring as Weakly's three-run homer in the first spotted the Bears a 3-0 lead.  Daphne Plummer and Madison Hunsaker opened the game with a walk and single, respectively, before Weakly cleared the bases for her second home run of the tournament.
 
Abi LaValley picked up the Bears defensively in the bottom half of the first, squashing a rare scoring threat from UT Martin (3-4) with a diving stop at second base shortly after the Skyhawks led off with consecutive singles. 
 
The Bears recorded another three-run inning in the top of the fourth, beginning with Frost's leadoff home run, her first since 2018 after a medical redshirt last season.  The Bears plated the next two runs on a pair of sac flies from Plummer and LaValley.
 
MSU tacked on another couple of runs in the seventh. Krehbiel smacked a one-out double over the UT Martin center fielder to score Hunsaker all the way from first. Weakly came home on a Skyhawks' error to close out the Bears' offensive assault.
 
Hunsaker and Weakly paced the Bears offensively with multi-hit games, both going 2-3 at the dish. Plummer, Krehbiel, Frost, and LaValley each had an RBI to go along with the three from Weakly.
 
Game 2
UNT 2, Bears 1 (8 inn.)
North Texas (6-1) strung together three singles, including the walk-off hit from Hanna Rebar, in the bottom of the eighth to take the nightcap, 2-1, in extra innings.
 
For the second straight game, Plummer reached base safely to open the game as her leadoff single dropped safely into left field.  After Weakly drew a one-out walk, back-to-back wild pitches brought Plummer home to give the Bears the game's opening run, a feat they accomplished in all four contests of the tournament.
 
Steffany Dickerson worked out of jams in the first and second inning, but the Mean Green finally broke through in the third to tie the game at 1-1.  After an RBI single from UNT's Evans, Frost threw out the runner at third and Dickerson then induced an infield fly to escape the inning with minimal damage. 
 
After a quick fourth and fifth inning from both pitchers, UNT put runners in scoring position in the next two frames. However, the Bears deflated both threats with Dickerson throwing well-placed pitches to keep the ball in the infield and her defense backed her up to send the game to extras. 
 
In the top of the eighth, Bailey Greenlee, who reached on a leadoff walk, tried to score the winning run on a two-out single from Krehbiel, but the throw from left field beat her to the plate. Plummer sacrificed Greenlee to second base moments earlier to put the go-ahead run in scoring position for the Bears.
 
Dickerson posted another quality-start performance after allowing just two runs in 7.0 innings and tallying four strikeouts.