COLLEGE STATION, Texas  – Missouri State softball fell to 1-6 on the season after a couple of 4-1 losses against the University of Pittsburgh and Texas A&M on Friday.
 
Madison Hunsaker was the leader in the circle for the Bears. The fifth-year senior threw 4.2 innings against Pitt, allowing just one earned run and three hits while striking out five Panthers. Daphne Plummer and Alex Boze each had two hits on the day to lead the Bears' offensive efforts. The duo contributed all four of MSU's hits against Texas A&M, with Boze providing the only extra-base hit of the day with a double in the second inning against the Aggies.
 
In MSU's opening game of the Texas A&M Invitational, the Bears and Panthers were locked in a pitcher's duel. Pitt got on the board first in the second inning with the help of a hit by pitch, a sacrifice bunt and a single to take an early 1-0 lead over MSU.
 
From there, both pitching staffs settled in, as nobody else scored again until the bottom of the sixth inning, when Missouri State finally broke through to put a run on the board. Payton Minnis began the home half of the sixth inning with a single, followed by a Steffany Dickerson walk that put two Bears on the bases with no outs. After a ground out that advanced both runners, Tess Weakly singled to shortstop to score Minnis and tie the game at 1-1.
 
Neither team could bring a run across in the seventh inning, so the game headed to extra innings in College Station. The tournament rules dictated that beginning in the eighth inning, the game enters international tiebreaker rules; therefore, a runner was placed at second base to begin each half inning.
 
Pitt took advantage by advancing their runner on second base to third base with a sacrifice bunt. Then, the Panthers knocked two home runs in three at-bats to take a 4-1 lead and ultimately defeat the Bears in eight innings to open the tournament.
 
In the second game of the day, Missouri State jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead, as the Bears put a run on the board in the top of the first inning against Texas A&M. Plummer led the game off with a single, followed by a Minnis sacrifice bunt to move her to second. Plummer then advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored the first, and ultimately the only run for the Bears, on a wild pitch.
 
The Aggies answered immediately in the home half of the first inning, scoring on a dropped third strike with the bases loaded to tie the game at one run each. Texas A&M then went on to tack on a single run in the third, fourth and sixth innings to defeat the Bears 4-1 on the opening day of the tournament.
 
Missouri State softball is back in action tomorrow at the Texas A&M Invitational with matchups against Kansas and Stephen F. Austin. First pitch against Kansas is scheduled for 9 a.m., with first pitch against SFA slated for 11:30 a.m.