EVANSVILLE, Ind. - A year ago Sunday, the Truman State University softball team swept Southern Indiana, the eventual Division II National Champion, at Bulldog Park in Kirksville. Fast forward to Monday and the Screaming Eagles returned the favor by sweeping the Bulldogs with scores of 2-0 and 4-3.
Truman falls to 16-9 overall and 4-8 in GLVC play while Southern Indiana improves to 21-13 on the season and 9-3 in league action. Next up for the Bulldogs is a 10-game homestand and 12 of their final 18 regular season contests will be played at the friendly confines. That stretch begins with Missouri-St. Louis and a twinbill on Saturday at 12 p.m.
Reigning Second-Team All-American (Fastpitch News) and Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Division II Championship, Jennifer Leonhardt, got the best of Truman on Monday as she went the distance for the win in game one before a three out save in the nightcap, her third save of the year. All in all, Leonhardt pitched eight shutout innings with three hits allowed, four walks and 13 strikeouts. Eleven of those 13 punchouts came in the first game, the most for the Bulldogs in a single game in nearly three years.
Her counterpart in game one,
Alyssa Hajduk (6-3), struggled with control problems as she walked 10 batters for the second time in her career, two of which came with the bases loaded in the sixth to account for all of the game's scoring. Prior to that, Hajduk had pitched out of trouble time and time again as Southern Indiana left 13 runners on base to Truman's five stranded.
In the rematch, the Screaming Eagles scored two runs in each of the first two innings to go up 4-0 early. In the top of the third,
Alyssa Rivera singled in
Christa Reisinger before doubling her in two innings later to make it 4-2. The Bulldogs third and final run would also come in the fifth when
Adrienne Compton hit one right back up the middle to bring in Rivera. After that,
Morgan McMahan walked to put runners on first and second before Southern Indiana retired seven-straight Bulldogs to end it.
Lauren Dale (9-5), who was 8-1 at one point this season, is 1-4 in her last six appearances. Monday, she surrendered four earned runs on five hits with three walks and three strikeouts.
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