COMMERCE, Texas – Missouri State softball (6-3) earned two wins on Sunday to cap an undefeated stay at the Lion Invitational hosted by East Texas A&M. The Bears extended their win streak to six games with a 4-1 victory over Rhode Island and a 7-2 win over the host Lions.
 
Game 1
Missouri State 4, Rhode Island 1
Following a day off at the Lion Invitational due to inclement weather on Saturday, the Bears got back to business with a matchup against Rhode Island on Sunday morning.
 
After a 1-2-3 inning to start the day for Brylee Brewster and the Missouri State defense, MoState jumped on the board in the home half of the inning. Texas native Alexis Perales knocked a leadoff double, before Brynn Romine walked and Lauren Rowland singled to load the bases with no outs. A couple of batters later, Riley Baber drove in a run with an RBI ground out to second base to give the Bears the early lead.
 
Following a couple of quiet innings for both squads, the Rams broke through on the scoreboard in the fourth inning to tie the game at 1-1. A leadoff hit by pitch along with a single and two fly outs pushed Rhode Island's first run across.
 
MoState struck again in the fifth inning, posting three runs on three hits. Perales once again led things off with a double to right field, and two batters later Rowland added a double of her own to drive in a run and give the Bears the lead. Halle Studer then hit her first home run of the season, sending a two-run shot to right field to extend the lead to three runs.
 
That's all the run support the Bears would need as Emily Koranda came on in relief and kept the Rams off the scoreboard. Missouri State earned the 4-1 win, marking their fifth straight victory.
 
Offensively, Perales, Rowland and Mya January led the way with two hits each, while Studer racked up two RBI. In the circle, the freshmen led the way with Brewster collecting her second win of the season. The southpaw tossed 5.0 innings, allowed just one run on two hits and fanned five Rams. Koranda came on in relief and hurled 2.0 scoreless innings to earn her first career save.
 
 
Game 2
Missouri State 7, East Texas A&M 2
The second game of the day and the final game of the Lion Invitational saw Missouri State face host East Texas A&M.
 
Things got rolling for both squads in the second inning in this one as the visiting Bears struck first. Romine found an opening in right center field for a one-out triple, and Baber drove her in with a single through the right side to put MoState in front, 1-0. The Lions wasted no time responding, utilizing a couple of hits and an error in the second to knot the game at 1-1 with two innings in the books.
 
In the third inning, both teams got their leadoff runner on base via an error but both also came up empty in the frame.
 
The Bears opened things up in the top of the fourth with three runs. With a runner on and one out, Baber added her second RBI of the game with a double to left field. Missouri State loaded the bases with a couple of singles, and Perales sent a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring the second run of the inning for the Bears. In the next at-bat, MoState pulled off the double steal with pinch runner Taylor Akers crossing the plate to put the Bears up 4-1.
 
Later, East Texas A&M took advantage of a couple of free passes and a MoState error to add a run in the fifth inning. Baber responded immediately in the top of the sixth with a one-out solo homer to right field to stretch the Missouri State lead back to three runs.
 
Missouri State's offense wasn't done as they added some insurance in the top of the seventh inning. Following Perales' third leadoff double of the entire day, Studer made the Lions pay with her second home run in as many games, this time a two-run shot to left field to extend the lead to a comfortable five runs.
 
With two runners on base and one out in the bottom of the seventh, senior Makenzi Swick came on in relief to try and close this one out. She quickly shut the door on the Lions threat as the MoState defense used a lineout to double up the runner at first base, securing the 7-2 win.
 
Baber finished the game 3-for-3 with three RBI at the plate to lead Missouri State's offense. The Bears tallied five extra-base hits for the game, drew three walks and struck out just twice. In the circle, Koranda earned the win, her fourth of the season, after hurling 4.1 hitless innings and striking out four.
 
UP NEXT
Missouri State is back on the road next week at the Green and Gold Classic hosted by UAB. The Bears kick off action on Friday, Feb. 20 with games against Southern Illinois (11:30 a.m.) and Tennessee (4:30 p.m.).