BOLIVAR, Mo. - Fourteen innings, zero earned runs allowed. Pitchers, Lauren Dale and Alyssa Hajduk set the tone on Wednesday while the rest of the Truman State University softball team took care of the rest. The Bulldogs picked up their fifth sweep of the season, this time over Southwest Baptist, thanks to scores of 3-2 and 3-1.

Truman (17-11) pushed its winning streak to a season high four games while Southwest Baptist (13-24) has dropped three in a row and 10 of its last 11. Until now, the highest the Bulldogs had been above the .500 mark was five games over (13-8) after defeating Missouri S&T on March 26.

Offensively, the Purple and White managed just 10 hits in their 49 at-bats (.204 batting average), three of which came from first baseman, Ashley Murphy, including two in game one. In her first 23 games of the season, Murphy had more than one hit in a game just three times. In her last five, she has done it just as many times while bringing her average up 36 points to .309. Michaela Mooney also had two hits in game one (first time since March 18) including the go-ahead home run, her second of the spring.

In game one, Truman scored all three of its runs in the top of the fourth when Murphy hit a solo shot to center, her third blast of the season, and Mooney followed it up with her two-run bomb. Prior to Wednesday, SBU's Claire Miller had given up just five home runs in 129.1 innings before two in just three and a third frames in game one. It marked just the second time in 26 outings that Miller has given up multiple home runs.

Southwest Baptist made it a one-run affair the next inning, but that'd be it for scoring as Dale and Hajduk teamed up for the win.

Dale (7-6) went above the .500 mark for the first time with only one walk and three strikeouts before Hajduk recorded the final out for her first save as a sophomore. In her last seven appearances, Dale is 6-1 with a 1.45 ERA in 43.1 innings pitched, 22 punchouts, and just seven free passes.

In the nightcap, Truman again scored all three of its runs in one inning, this time in the top of the first. Brooke VunCannon and Murphy notched RBI singles before a run-scoring double by Morgan McMahan. Hajduk (9-3) went the distance for the fourth time this season and allowed just one unearned run on four hits.

Next up, the Bulldogs will host Southern Indiana on Saturday with the start time in game one set for 12 p.m. at Truman Softball Park.

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