WARRENSBURG, Mo. - Terrific pitching and defense led to the Lincoln softball team defeating Central Missouri, 1-0, on Tuesday evening (March 11). The win was the first for the Blue Tigers over the Jennies since 2019 and gave LU a split on the afternoon, as UCM took the first contest, 6-1.
Mallorey Rogers only allowed three hits and struck out two batters to pick up her second win of the season in a complete-game effort.
Josie Stewart led LU with 10 putouts and
Emma Rakes had three while
Addie Lang,
Faith Jaegers andÂ
Josie Bezzole each had two.
Miranda Medrano added three assists and Rogers provided two.
Central Missouri (10-10) had base runners reach second in both of the first two frames, but Lincoln (9-13) stranded both players to keep the game scoreless. After retiring the UCM side in order in the third, Bezzole led the top of the fourth off with a walk and
Abbi Conrad advanced her to second with a sacrifice bunt.
Kierra O'Rourke followed with a base hit through the middle of the infield, allowing Bezzole to score the only run of the second contest.
Lincoln outhit Central Missouri 5-3, with O'Rourke going 2-for-3 at the plate. Stewart, Jaegers and
Ann-Marie Simpson had Lincoln's other hits. Defensively, the Blue Tigers stranded five Jenny runners on base.
In the opener, Central Missouri scored first, capitalizing on an RBI double in the bottom of the opening inning. Lincoln was able to answer in the second, as O'Rourke reached thanks to an error and later scored on a base hit by
Hannah Heisler. That ended up being Lincoln's only run of contest, however, as UCM scored one run apiece in the bottom of the second and third frames before driving in three more scores in the fourth.
Abby Pulliam recorded two strikeouts in the circle and O'Rourke finished with two assists. Heisler led LU with five putouts,
Torri Hinnah recorded three and Simpson, O'Rourke,
Lindsey Brandt and
Gabby Newman each tallied two.
Lincoln returns home to play a double-header against Missouri-St. Louis on Saturday (March 15) at 12:00 p.m. CDT.
Â
