KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Nine days later than originally scheduled at Illinois Springfield, the Truman State University softball team opened up Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) play at Rockhurst on Saturday afternoon. The Bulldogs split a pair of one-run games with a 2-1 walk-off loss in the first contest before a 6-5 victory in eight innings for the nightcap.

With the split, Truman now sits at 8-6 overall and 1-1 in GLVC play while Rockhurst is 8-15 on the season including 2-2 in league action. All in all on Saturday, five Bulldogs registered multiple hits including Morgan McMahan (3-for-6), Christa Reisinger (3-for-7), Ashley Murphy (2-for-6), Alyssa Rivera (2-for-7), and Brooke VunCannon (2-for-8).

In game one, neither team got on the scoreboard until the top of the third inning when Truman struck first thanks to VunCannon reaching on a fielding error by the second baseman and Reisinger coming in to score. However, Rockhurst tied things up at 1-1 in the fifth before walking off with the win in the bottom of the seventh after an RBI double to left center.

Lauren Dale (1-4) took the hard-luck loss after throwing 6.2 innings while giving up two earned runs on four hits with no walks and three strikeouts. That effort marked just the second time in seven starts on the season in which Dale struck out more than two batters.

In the rematch, Truman scored four runs before Rockhurst was even able to do any scoring. In the top of the first, VunCannon singled in both Reisinger and Rivera before Murphy scored VunCannon with a base knock to left. Two innings later, Riley Cook singled through the right side, which allowed VunCannon to cross home plate, and the Bulldogs had a 4-0 advantage.

However, the Hawks brought one run across in the third, fourth and fifth innings to cut the margin to one, 4-3, heading into the top of the sixth. In the bottom of the seventh, Truman added what looked like an insurance run when McMahan hit one right back up the middle and VunCannon touched the dish. The home team proceeded to notch a couple runs in the bottom of that inning to send the game into extras. In the top of the eighth, VunCannon sealed it for the visitors with a sacrifice fly to right that scored Reisinger.

Nicolette Simpson took the no decision, but went four innings while giving up two runs, just one earned, on six hits with one free pass and a punchout. In relief, Alyssa Hajduk (6-1) picked up her team-leading sixth win with four innings pitched and three earned runs surrendered, just one earned, on one hit, four walks and five strikeouts.

Next up, Truman is at William Jewell on Sunday for a doubleheader with the first pitch in game one set for 12 p.m.

#BewareOfDog