FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Missouri State softball went 2-0 on the day at the Razorback Rumble to improve to 4-9 on the season. MSU started the day with a 5-4 victory over Kennesaw State (4-10), before defeating Kansas City (3-11), 3-1, to close out the Friday slate.  
 
Freshman McKenzie Vaughan was the star of the day for the Bears, as she went 3-for-4 at the plate with two home runs, five RBI and a walk. Both of Vaughan's homers, one in each game, served as the winning runs that secured two victories for the Bears in Fayetteville.
 
Madison Hunsaker got the start in the circle in game one, throwing 6.0 innings while allowing four earned runs and striking out six. Hunsaker picked up her first victory of the season with her performance against the Owls, while Steffany Dickerson collected her first save of the year after pitching the final inning. Dickerson got the ball in the second game of the day and she delivered a great performance, allowing just one earned run on four hits to earn her third victory in 2022.
 
In game one, Kennesaw State was able to jump on the scoreboard early. The Owls scored a run in the first inning via a double and a single, before tacking on two more runs in the second inning off of three hits and a sacrifice fly to take a 3-0 lead on the Bears.
 
It took a little bit for the Bears to get going offensively, collecting just one hit in the first three innings, but they were able to break through and tie the game at three in the home half of the fourth inning. Alex Boze started things off in the fourth with a leadoff single, followed by two more Bear singles courtesy of Olivia Krehbiel and Hunsaker to put the first run on the board for MSU. Freshmen Kenzie Derryberry and Vaughan then came up big, sending two sacrifice fly balls to the outfield to score two runs and tie the game at 3-3 after four innings.
 
The Owls responded immediately with a homer in the top of the fifth to retake the lead, 4-3. The bottom of the fifth was quiet for MSU, but after forcing a 1-2-3 Kennesaw State inning in the top of the sixth, the Bears struck again. Following a Hunsaker single, Vaughan launched her first two-run homer of the day, with two outs on the board, to put MSU ahead for good, as Dickerson came on in the seventh inning to record the save and secure the 5-4 Bear victory.
 
In the second game of the day, it was Missouri State that got the scoring started with a run in the first inning with a help of a couple of Kansas City errors. Daphne Plummer was able to reach on an error and advance to second base to begin the game, then in the next at-bat Payton Minnis reached on an error by the third baseman that allowed Plummer to score and give MSU the early lead.
 
After a quiet second and third inning for both teams, Kansas City tied the game at one run apiece in the top of the fourth after a leadoff double, followed by an RBI-single.
 
The Bears had an answer, though. In the home half of the fourth inning, Hunsaker knocked a leadoff single down the right field line and set the stage for Vaughan once again. The freshman delivered for the second time in as many games, launching a two-run homer to center field to drive in what would ultimately be the game winning runs for the second consecutive game.
 
Dickerson finished off her complete game effort by allowing just two hits over the final three innings to pick up MSU's second victory of the day and her third win on the season.  
 
Missouri State will close out the Razorback Rumble tomorrow with matchups against Kansas City and No. 10/11 Arkansas. First pitch against Kansas City is set for 10 a.m., with first pitch against the Razorbacks slated for 3 p.m.