WAYNE, Neb. – The 50
th season of Truman Softball saw the Bulldogs split a pair of games with schools from the Northern Sun Conference. Truman won game one 13-3 but lost in nine innings to Concordia-St. Paul (Minn.) 4-3. The Bulldogs and CSP will play again on Saturday afternoon.
Truman State 13, Wayne St. 3
The Bulldogs (1-0) scored the first 11 runs, with an eight-run third inning to blow out Wayne State 13-3 in the opener.
McKenzie West got things started with a two-run double in the first and in the second
Lauren Bowman scored on a throwing error for a 3-0 Truman lead.
The bubble burst in the third when West doubled again to score
Cameryn Patterson and
Maria McGonegle.
Taylor Spencer plated
Kayla Quanstrum with an RBI single and
Callie Unrein hit a two-run single to score
Emma Walbert and Bowman.
The Wildcats (0-5) scored two runs in the fourth but the Bulldog got them back in the top of the fifth with Spencer hitting a triple to score West and later scoring herself on a throwing error.
Wayne added a run in their half of the fifth but couldn't avoid the run rule verdict.
Truman busted 11 hits and were aided by three Wayne State errors.
Nicole Havel pitched all five innings and allowed three runs on seven hits.
Concordia St. Paul 4, Truman State 3 (9 Innings)
The Golden Bears took an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first on a two-out RBI single.
The lead held until the sixth when Truman got things going with a one-out walk drawn by Patterson. Bowman singled and
Shelby Webster got a pinch-hit single to load the bases.
Breianna Klein forced in a run with a walk and Walbert gave the Bulldogs the lead with a fielder's choice that scored
Sydney Parkerson.
Concordia tied the game in the bottom of the seventh with a double to right field. They had a chance to win it in regulation but the Bulldogs threw out the potential winner at the plate.
Playing the tie-breaker rules and placing a runner on second, Truman scored only one run in the eight after loading the bases. Walbert coaxed a two-out walk to score Spencer.
CSP matched the Bulldogs run in their half of the eighth and had runners on second and third with one out. Klein, pitching her second inning in relief, got the next two hitters to pop out to Quanstrum at short.
The Bulldogs could not take advantage of a runner at second in the ninth and did not score.
Concordia advanced their runner with a sac bunt then ball hit to left field allowed the winning run to cross the plate.
Walbert was 2-for-4 with a pair of RBIs. Truman had seven hits and had six bases on balls but stranded 13 runners on base for the game.
