Midwest 1 Regional Central

ST. LOUIS - After being shutout with just two hits against Schutt Sports/NFCA Division II National Player of the Year finalist, Lyndsay Butler, on Thursday, the Truman State University softball team played angry on Friday in an elimination game against Kentucky Wesleyan. Avenging an earlier-season loss to the Panthers on Feb. 19 in Tennessee (4-2 in eight innings), the Bulldogs exploded for 11 runs on 15 hits to win in six innings, 11-1, and keep their season alive.

With the victory, Truman (40-22) reaches the 40-win plateau for the sixth time in program history (45 seasons) and first time since 2014 (43-13). On the other side, the champion of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC), Kentucky Wesleyan, finishes 2017 with an overall record of 38-22. Friday against the Panthers, six Bulldogs collected multiple hits including Christa Reisinger, Alyssa Rivera, Lex Van Nostrand, Valerie Schmidt, Jamie Fowle, and Riley Cook. In the RBI department, Rivera led the way with four while Fowle and Cook each had two and Schmidt added another.

Lauren Dale (22-9) picked up the win and was one strike away from the program's first no-hitter since Kindra Henze and Kirsten Krause combined to throw one on Feb. 23, 2013 vs. Sioux Falls. Dale gave up just the one earned run on two hits with three walks, three strikeouts, 82 pitches, and dropped her season ERA to 2.37. Maci Brown (16-9) took the loss for Kentucky Wesleyan after giving up seven earned runs on 11 hits. In relief, Jessica Carmon surrendered four runs, two of which were earned.

The Bulldogs will now face UMSL at 5 p.m. tonight for a chance to advance on to Championship Saturday against Wayne State. Live stats and GLVCSN coverage for the game against the Tritons are available right here at TrumanBulldogs.com.

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