Truman State University[트루먼주립대]Truman Does It All in Road Sweep of Missouri S&T
Truman State University[트루먼주립대]Truman Does It All in Road Sweep of Missouri S&T
The Truman softball team picked up a road sweep over Missouri S&T on Sunday and the two wins could not have been more unlike each other. The Bulldogs won a pitchers' duel in game one, 2-1, before coming absolutely unhinged in the nightcap with 20 runs on 22 hits, four of which were home runs, in a 20-1 beatdown of the Miners. Those 20 runs are the most for the Purple and White since a 20-1 victory at Washburn as a member of the MIAA on April 26, 2013.
With the sweep, Truman gets back to 10 games above the .500 mark overall at 24-14 and is now 7-5 in the GLVC. On the other side, Missouri S&T has dropped three of its last six to fall to 14-19 on the year, including 6-6 in league play. The Bulldogs gave some more proof as to why they currently have the best offense in the conference as they lead it in average (.344), runs (227), hits (367), doubles (68), RBI (208), total bases (522), slugging percentage (.489), and stolen bases (70). Eight regulars for the Purple and White are hitting above .290 and five have a mark of at least .350 in that category.
Individually on Sunday, Lex Van Nostrand (5-for-6) and Morgan McMahan (5-for-8) each had five hits while Christa Reisinger (4-for-7) and Ashley Murphy (4-for-7) each tallied four of their own. As a team against Missouri S&T, Truman hit a blistering .477 with 31 hits in 65 at-bats, a 769 slugging percentage and .514 on-base percentage. Van Nostrand capped off a strong nomination for GLVC Player of the Week honors as she hit .583 (7-for-12) during the week with 11 RBI and an out-of-this-world 1.417 slugging percentage.
Before we get into the offensive onslaught of game two, Alyssa Hajduk (3-3) picked up right where she left off on Saturday for the first game against Missouri S&T and will also have a strong case for some weekly honors. Against the Miners, Hajduk struck out 10 batters and walked only three while picking up her third-career complete game and second in as many efforts. That marked the third time during her rookie campaign that Hajduk racked up at least 10 strikeouts in a game and she had 23 in her last two games alone. Truman's two runs came from a Van Nostrand RBI double in the first and a Murphy RBI single in the sixth. Aside from that, it was all on the arm of the southpaw slinger.
In the second game, where do we begin? The Bulldogs scored four runs in the first inning, four in the second, three in the third, and nine more in the fourth. When looking at the Truman lineup, seven players had at least two runs scored, six touched home plate multiple times and three batted in at least four runs. Van Nostrand, who we've already talked about a bit, led the way with six RBI on a two-run home run and a grand slam, but McMahan has been on an absolute tear. The sophomore designated player is riding a team-high 11-game hitting streak and during that span, she is hitting an unconscious .500 (20-for-40) with four games of at least two base knocks.
Starting in the circle for the nightcap was Lauren Dale (11-6) and she just had to throw strikes. The sophomore hurler did just that with four innings of one-run ball, no walks and two strikeouts. In relief, Nicolette Simpson picked up an inning of work with one punchout and no free passes.
Truman now returns home for a midweek doubleheader against rival Quincy on Tuesday at Truman Softball Park with first pitch in game one set for 2 p.m.
