Cougar News
Softball - Fri, Mar. 8, 2013
MAYFIELD, Ky. - The Mid-Continent University softball team entered play on Friday afternoon looking for a spark to ingite what has been a slumbering offense in the early going this season. With Harris-Stowe State (Mo.) in town, the Cougars found a way to get the offense in gear.
Mid-Continent (1-7) pounded out 17 hits on the afternoon, as they split a twin bill with the Hornets (1-1). Mid-Continent took game one 12-2, but fell in the back half of the double-header 2-1.
Mid-Continent jumped on top early in the first game, posting a four-spot in the bottom of the first inning. Alyssa Ybarra highlighted the inning with a two-run double, driving in Bry Navarro and Courtney Woods on the play. Hannah Hicks drove in two with a double of her own in the Harris-Stowe third frame, but in the bottom of the inning, Mid-Continent answered. Anna Maziarka blasted a two-run homer - her first of the season - and the shot ignited a rally that saw Mid-Continent tally eight unanswered runs over the next two innings to take the win 12-2.
Colby Smith (1-2) yielded only two earned runs on two hits and two walks while striking out four in tossing the five inning complete game victory. Abby Dunker (0-1) was saddled with the loss for the Hornets, allowing 12 runs - nine earned - on 11 hits in the game. Navarro, Ybarra, Maziarka, and Kelsey Tramel each knocked in two runs in the game, while Tramel, Ybarra, and Woods each had a two-base hit in the contest.
Game two saw Rachel Brueggeman take the ball for the Cougars, and after an uneventful first inning, Harris-Stowe broke through with a pair of runs in the top of the second inning to take the 2-0 lead. As the game wore on, Mid-Continent struggled to get the offense going again. Marissa Nickersonpicked up an RBI single in the bottom of the sixth, and in the seventh, the Cougars loaded the bases with two outs for Tramel, but Jacki Dooley got Tramel to strike out to end the game, preserving the win for the Hornets.
Dooley (1-0) scattered six hits and allowed only one unearned run in the complete game win, while Brueggeman (0-2) was charged with two earned runs in one inning of work in taking the loss. Navarro lashed a pair of singles in the game for Mid-Continent, scoring the Cougars' lone run.
Mid-Continent will be back in action at home on Saturday afternoon, hosting the Missouri Baptist University Spartans (3-3) for a double-header at Noon.
