Game 1 Box Score | Game 2 Box Score | Season Stats
 
NORMAN, Okla. – Missouri State took No. 6 Oklahoma to extra innings before succumbing to the host team, 3-2 in a hard-fought battle to close out the day here Saturday at the OU Softball Complex.
 
The Bears (7-11) were shut out by Murray State, 8-0, in the matinee to split their weekend series against the Racers.
 
MSU travels back to Stillwater tomorrow for a Sunday showdown with No. 14 Oklahoma State at 12:30 p.m.  The Bears fell 15-1 in five innings to the Cowgirls on Friday at day one of the Mizuno Classic.
 
Game 1
Murray State 8, Bears 0
Playing for the second time in as many days, Missouri State and Murray State traded decisions from Friday's 8-0 contest which went in favor of the Bears.
 
The Racers (12-8) scattered their eight runs across four innings with five of them coming off of extra-base hits, including back-to-back solo home runs on a windy day in Norman.
 
In her first start as a Bear, Gracie Johnston (0-1) looked to open the game with two scoreless frames, but a pair of two-out doubles put Murray State on the board in the second inning.  Working around a leadoff double in the inning, Johnston retired the next two Racers with a strikeout and an infield pop fly, but Murray State's Lily Fischer and Jenna Bleiberg connected on the following at-bats to take a 2-0 lead.
 
Another two-out RBI extended the Murray State advantage in the fourth while Racers starter, Jenna Veber (4-5), stifled an MSU offense that racked up 15 hits in yesterday's game.  Veber allowed just two baserunners through the first five innings off of singles from Madison Hunsaker and Daphne Plummer.
 
In the top of the sixth, the Racers led off with two straight solo shots that cleared the 220-foot fence in center field to spoil Johnston's debut.
 
The Bears put runners on in the final two innings in hopes of a late-game rally with Hannah Heinrichs opening the sixth with a leadoff single.  She would advance all the way to third following a Racers error and a fly ball to the outfield from Plummer, but a liner to the third base side ended MSU's scoring chance.  A Hunsaker walk in the bottom of the seventh closed out the Bears offense for the game as Alex Boze's deep fly ball to right was caught at the wall to preserve the shutout for Murray State.
 
Johnston struck out three in her 5.0 innings of work while Erin Griesbauer (1.2IP) and Hunsaker (0.1IP) each made relief appearances for MSU.
 
Game 2
OU 3, Bears 2 (8 inn.)
OU scored the game-winning run in the eighth inning to fend off a tenacious Bears squad to take the nightcap, 3-2.
 
The Sooners (20-4) drew back-to-back walks in the would-be final frame before Lynnsie Elam walked it off with her base hit to left field.
 
Steffany Dickerson (4-4) posted another quality-start performance in the circle for MSU, tallying five strikeouts and holding the Sooners' high-power offense to six hits in 7.1 innings.
 
It was the Bears who were first to the scoreboard with Plummer and Payton Minnis both reaching safely to begin the game and coming around to score on a double off the bat of Olivia Krehbiel.  The freshman third baseman swatted a bouncing ball down the left field line to give Dickerson and the Bears a two-run cushion in the opening frame.
 
After trading outs for the next two innings, OSU opened its scoring in the bottom of the fourth, beginning with a leadoff home run from Jocelyn Alo.  With the next two Sooners reaching, Dickerson got Elam to roll one over, but it was placed in the right spot between first and second for an RBI groundout to knot the game at 2-2.
 
Missouri State had a chance to take the lead in the sixth inning with Plummer and Minnis teaming up again to give the Bears runners at second and third following a single, an error, and a wild pitch. However, a dropped third strike turned disaster for MSU as the Sooners were able to get Plummer out at home and throw down to first to halt the Bears' final scoring threat.
 
Coming in to get all three outs in that eventful sixth inning, OU's Shannon Saile (8-3) totaled 3.0 innings of scoreless relief and struck out six of the eight batters she faced to earn the win.
 
After seeing her six-game hitting streak come to an end against Murray State, Krehbiel's first-inning double was her fourth extra-base hit in March.