State of Play
Truman State opens weekend Great Lakes Valley Conference action sporting the best offense and best defense in the league while occupying 10th place in the field with an 8-10 record. Lincoln's 3-15 GLVC mark is good for tenth while Missouri S&T stands 12th with a 7-11 league mark.
The Bulldogs split the previous weekend results getting swept at home against Drury (Mo.) April 5 by 2-1 and 4-3 finals before taking a pair off Southwest Baptist )Mo.) April 6 by scores of 9-1 and 5-1. The two wins against Southwest Baptist are the third two-game win streak since conference play began against Illinois Springfield March 7. Truman State's longest run of wins for the season being was from Feb. 8 against Arkansas-Monticello through an 8-0 win against Minnesota State Moorhead Feb. 22.
The Blue Tigers spent April 5-6 on the road getting a split against Upper Iowa, an 8-2 Game 1 win followed by a 13-4 loss, then were swept at Lewis (Ill.) finishing the weekend with scores of 4-0 and 6-2. The Miners took a pair at Upper Iowa April 6, 9-4 and 10-0, then split against Quincy (Ill.) with a 2-1 loss followed by a15-1 victory. Leading the league with 25 round trippers, Missouri S&T knocked two in Game 1 versus Upper Iowa and one in the 15-1 drubbing of the Hawks.
Last Time Out
The Bulldogs outhit Drury 7-5 in Game 1 then 11-7 in the nightcap but stranded 14 runners combined in the doubleheader. Lydia Fieste scored the lone run in the 2-1 loss, leading off the bottom of the seventh with a double, then scoring when Nina Fenasci reached on an error. Cassie Smith, Emily Wood, and Fenasci all crossed the plate in the 4-3 Game 2 loss with Wood's two-run home run, her sixth in 2025, scoring Smith and giving the Purple and White a 2-1 lead after one.
Smith continued her torrid hitting leading off Game 1 against Southwest Baptist with a single, advancing to second on an error, and scoring on a Fenasci RBI single. Michaela Goad and Kyleia Salyars each had RBI in the inning where the 'Dogs scored three. The scoreless second was the only frame in which SBU kept Truman State off the board. Kaylyn Jones extended her record to 10-6 with the win working all five innings walking one withnine strike outs. The senior hurler's 101 Ks are a career high and the first 100 strikout season by a Bulldog since Alyssa Hajduk in 2019.
Fenasci opened Game 2 with her fifth career home run, the second of the season, in a game where the GLVC Player of the Week went 2-2 with two runs scored, an RBI, and two walks. Fieste clubbed her second round tripper of the year while Wood and Goad each added doubles. Avareer Taylor picked up the win after going four in the start to finish the day with a 2-2 season record.
Looking Ahead
The Truman State Softball season and push to the GLVC postseason tournament starts to wind down with trip to UIndy April 19 followed by home dates against Maryville (Mo.) April 26 and Missouri-St. Louis April 27.
