ST. LOUIS - For the first time in nearly three years, the Truman State University softball team was swept by Missouri-St. Louis in a doubleheader. Friday afternoon under the arch, the Tritons won a pair of seven-inning decisions over the Bulldogs with scores of 7-2 and 5-4. The Purple and White hadn't lost both ends of a Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) twinbill since April 23, 2016 at No. 2 Indianapolis.

Truman (13-11, 4-6 GLVC) now leads the all-time series with UMSL (20-14, 7-5 GLVC) by just one, 35-34. In the two teams' most recent double dip, Brooke VunCannon (pictured) continued to shine for the Bulldogs as she had four of the team's 11 hits and went 4-of-7 at the dish with two RBI, four total bases and two stolen bases. The only other player in Purple and White with multiple hits was Ashley Murphy with three in her five at-bats.

In game one, Christa Reisinger scored on a fielding error by the pitcher in the third and VunCannon singled in Kayla Quanstrum in the fifth to give Truman a 2-0 advantage heading to the bottom of the fifth. However, Missouri-St. Louis proceeded to score seven unanswered runs including four (unearned) in the fifth and three more in the sixth.

Since improving to 8-1 back on March 21 vs. Lincoln, Alyssa Hajduk (8-3) has lost consecutive starts for the first time this season. Hajduk gave up seven runs, three earned, on eight hits with only two walks and seven strikeouts in six innings of work. Those two free passes marked just the second time in her last seven outings that she surrendered less than three.

In the nightcap, Truman held two one-run leads including 1-0 in the third and 3-2 in the fourth. Those three runs came from a VunCannon RBI single, a Mackayla Gordon run-scoring knock and Morgan McMahan coming in on a throwing error by the second baseman. However, Missouri-St. Louis responded with a three spot in the bottom of the fourth after an RBI single through the right side and a two-run double to left that made it 5-3 in favor of the home team. In the top of the seventh, Murphy made it a one-run game with a double to right center that scored Alyssa Rivera before McMahan flied out to center to end it.

Lauren Dale (4-6) took the loss after giving up five runs, four earned, on six hits with only one walk and eight strikeouts. Those eight punchouts are five more than Dale's previous season best and tie her career high. In her last six appearances, she has 22 strikeouts to just four walks.

Next up, Truman is at Maryville on Saturday for a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m.

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