SPRINGFIELD – Madison Hunsaker and Gracie Johnston each posted a shutout performance in the circle as Missouri State softball took both games of a doubleheader against Loyola here Sunday afternoon.
 
The Bears (21-15, 12-5 MVC) bagged their fifth Missouri Valley Conference series of the year with wins of 1-0 and 7-0 over the Ramblers (10-24, 6-12 MVC) in a Sunday twin bill.
 
"It was great to come back today and get two big conference wins after a close one yesterday," said Bears head coach Holly Hesse.  "Our pitching was lights out today with Rocket (Hunsaker) and Gracie (Johnston) attacking hitters and keeping a challenging Loyola lineup in check.  The bats really came alive there in the second game and it was great to see them rewarded after continuing to battle all weekend long."
 
Hunsaker and Johnston kept the visitors, who managed just seven hits between the two games, off the scoreboard today and struck out a combined nine batters.  With the two scoreless outings from today, the MSU pitching staff has totaled nine shutouts this season.
 
Game 1
Bears 1, Loyola 0
Hunsaker (8-4) outdueled Loyola starter Sydney Ruggles (5-12) and Darian Frost beat a throw to the plate to score the only run of the 1-0 victory in the opener.
 
With both hurlers dealing, scoring chances were rare to come by as the two teams combined to tally just seven hits in the contest.
 
Things got off to an interesting start for both sides in the first inning.  Loyola had their opening-frame rally come to a halt after a fly ball caught from Kelly Metter was misjudged and the Ramblers runner at second was deemed to have left early trying to tag up on the play.  Looking to match the early aggression on the base paths, the Bears would end things similarly in their first time at the plate as Daphne Plummer got caught pushing too far off the bag at first and was picked off.
 
Both sides registered leadoff doubles to put themselves in scoring position with Olivia Krehbiel roping a double to left field in the bottom of the second while Nova Sinskull started off the top of the fourth with a double to the gap in right center.  Hunsaker and Ruggles locked in to make sure both hits went unharmed and squashed their respective threats in matching fashion with inning-ending strikeouts.
 
Frost opened up the fifth with a single to set the stage for the sole run-scoring inning of the early game.  She utilized her speed to make it to second on an Alex Boze bunt and later Annie Mueller put a ball in play that allowed the swift-footed senior to score on a bang-bang play at home.
 
Clinging to the 1-0 advantage, Hunsaker worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the top of the sixth with an emphatic strikeout leaving all three Ramblers runners stranded before Kelsie Lewis took care of the final out in the seventh to seal the first of two shutout victories.
 
Hunsaker earned her eighth win of the season and fanned four batters in the contest while her only walk of the outing came on the second-to-last batter of the game.
 
Game 2
Bears 7, Loyola 0
The Bears were boosted by another pitching gem out of the circle and pounded out 14 hits to complete the Sunday sweep with a 7-0 win in the nightcap.
 
Johnston (5-3) continued her scoreless inning streak from yesterday's game where she kept the Ramblers off the board in her 3.1 innings of relief with her second solo shutout performance of the season.
 
At the plate, Missouri State mixed together perfectly executed bunts with its power-hitting capabilities to hang seven runs against the Ramblers.
 
The Bears started off with the latter as Krehbiel laced a one-out double down the left field line to score Weakly all the way from first to open up the scoring in the bottom of the third.
 
MSU would go on to break the game open in the bottom of the fifth as a string of three consecutive bunt singles forced the Loyola defense to press and an errant throw on Weakly's bunt led to Plummer and Skyler Shaw coming across to score.  After Krehbiel followed with a fourth straight hit, Frost picked up an RBI on a sac fly that was deep enough to allow pinch-runner Ellie McCoy to come home.
 
The contagious hitting continued with another three-run frame in the bottom of the sixth.  Base knocks from Kelly Metter and Mueller in front of Plummer allowed the speedy shortstop to lay down another bunt and load the bases.  MSU's 2-3 hitters delivered again with Weakly smacking a two-run single and Krehbiel dropping a ball in right field to bring the seventh and final run across to cap the lopsided rubber-match victory.
 
Allowing just four base runners to reach, Johnston was exceptional in her seventh start of the season as she struck out five.
 
After earning the win in yesterday's contest, Madison Veres (3-7) was tagged for the loss today while surrendering eight hits over the course of her four innings.
 
Eight players registered a hit in the nightcap for an all-around effort with Weakly leading the charge by going a perfect 4-for-4 at the dish and collecting two RBI.  Krehbiel had three hits and added her fifth multi-RBI game of the season after supplying two runs as well.
 
Missouri State continues the homestand on Wednesday, April 28 with the series finale against Southern Illinois slated to start at 12 p.m.