KIRKSVILLE, Mo. - After a comeback bid that came up short in game one against Wayne State, the Truman State University softball team left no doubt in the nightcap. Fueled by the 6-5 defeat and a great start from Nicolette Simpson (pictured), the Bulldogs run-ruled the Wildcats, 9-1, in five innings to split the mid-week doubleheader at Truman Softball Park.

With the split, Truman is now 7-5 with Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) play starting up on Saturday while Wayne State sits at 6-9. Both teams will play their next four games on the road before hosting next week.

Against the Wildcats, four Bulldogs registered multiple hits including Jamie Fowle (5-for-6), Alyssa Rivera (3-for-4), Christa Reisinger (4-for-7), and Sydney Scherzinger (2-for-4). Fowle and Reisinger each had a home run to give them one and two on the year, respectively, while both racked up five RBI apiece.

In game one, Wayne State put up a crooked number early on with a three-run home run off the bat of Annie Grammer in the second inning. The Wildcats added two more runs in the fifth to go up 5-0 and knocked Truman starter, Lauren Dale, out of the game after just four and two-thirds pitched.

In the bottom of that frame, Fowle got the Bulldogs on the board with a two-run shot to left before the Wildcats made it a 6-2 game with an RBI single in the top of the sixth. Reisinger pulled the home team within one run, 6-5, with a three-run blast to right center in the home half of the sixth, but that'd be it for the scoring as the visitors won by one.

As mentioned above, Dale (1-3) got the start and gave up five runs, four earned, on six hits with two walks and a strikeout. In relief, Alyssa Hajduk surrendered just one earned run in an inning and a third of work to go with three punchouts and three free passes.

The hosts flipped a switch in game two with a run in the first, five in the second, two in the fourth, and another in the fifth. In the first, Fowle's stellar day continued as she singled up the middle to score Reisinger.

The very next inning, Kayla Quanstrum reached on a fielder's choice sacrifice bunt to score Scherzinger, Reisinger and Rivera each brought in a run, and Fowle pushed two across with a double off the glove of a diving center fielder. Two innings later, Truman made it 8-0 after Brooke VunCannon and Ashley Murphy each tallied a sacrifice fly.

Wayne State notched its only run of the day in the top of the fifth before Reisinger's RBI double in the bottom of that inning sealed the 9-1 win for the Bulldogs.

Simpson (1-1) allowed just one earned run on four hits with one walk, three strikeouts and 66 pitches.

Next up, Truman will take on former assistant coach, Bailey Wittenauer, and Rockhurst on Saturday for a double dip beginning at 12 p.m. in Kansas City.

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