UNK Hosts Pitt State Sunday
Kearney, Neb. - Senior Bailey Lacy struck out 15 in game one and three pitchers combined on a three-hitter in game two to help Missouri Southern State sweep a double header with Nebraska Kearney, 3-0 and 6-1, Saturday afternoon at Patriot Park. The Lions (24-7, 9-1) push their win streak to six in a row to remain in a first-place tie with nationally-ranked Central Oklahoma. The Lopers (12-20, 3-5) host Pittsburg State on Sunday at 1 and 3 p.m.; the Gorillas (21-11, 6-4) were swept by Fort Hays State today. Lacy moved to 7-0 thanks to a complete game three-hitter. Walking two and giving up just three singles over 113 pitches, she lowers her ERA to 1.34 ERA with this being her second complete game shutout of the year. California sophomore Sydney Thomason (6-4) threw well in defeat, allowing two earned over seven full innings. She fanned four, didn't walk a Lion and gave up six hits. Scoring runs in three different innings, MSSU showed off its speed with seven steals with the bottom of the order recording three key hits. "I thought Sydney threw a heck of a game. She threw a lot of strikes, commanded the zone and got on top of a lot of counts," said Loper head coach Katie Ackermann. "Unfortunately, we didn't play clean defense behind her and that didn't help at all." In the night cap, freshman Natalie Bates (4-3) threw four strong innings of relief. She struck out six with the Lions scoring all of their runs in the second. The inning featured three run scoring hits, a two-run error and a wild pitch that led to another Lion crossing home plate. "We're not executing strikes in the circle. We can't give up a walk, hit batter and then a single and double," said Ackermann. "That's not a recipe for success but Stacy same in and threw well." Colorado redshirt junior Stacy Bott threw the final 5.1 innings for UNK and allowed no runs. She fanned two, walked two and allowed two hits. Finally, Blair senior catcher Katie Gosker went 1 for 2 with an RBI and walk. "That pitching staff is one of best in the MIAA. They hit their spots today and we haven't seen pitchers that have executed that well before," said Ackermann. "We wanted to be as patient as we could be, but they commanded it and got on top (of counts) early."
Listen to the game here.
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