Softball Bears advance to Valley championship | MSU Sports Central

The Missouri State softball team defeated regular-season champion Illinois State 4-2 in a Missouri Valley Conference Tournament semifinal game and will play for the championship tomorrow at noon against Drake.

The second-seeded Bulldogs defeated Southern Illinois 4-1 in the second semifinal.

The Bears had picked up two earned and two unearned runs on seven hits and two ISU errors, and junior pitcher Natalie Rose scattered eight hits and struck out nine. Her two allowed runs were the first of the tournament scored against her.

The Bears (28-23) opened the scoring in the third inning when Tyler Porter scored on a squeeze bunt. The Redbirds (35-17) tied the game in the fourth but MSU immediately retook the lead in the fifth when Ashley Knehans came home on an RBI single from Heather Duckworth.

MSU added a pair of unearned insurance runs in the sixth after pitcher Jordan Birch threw the ball into the dirt, allowing Porter to reach base. Kirsten Cutter came home to score on the play, and Porter would score later in the inning on a single by Knehans.

The Redbirds got one run back in the seventh inning, but Rose struck out slugger Abby Olson, who represented the tying run, to end the game.

The championship game will be aired on Fox Sports Midwest.

Erin joined the News-Leader in 2008 to cover Missouri State women's basketball and local golf. She previously worked at the San Angelo (Texas) Standard-Times covering a variety of sports, and yes, she's seen the titular Friday Night Lights. She graduated from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, where she interned with the Dallas Cowboys for two seasons and learned how to avoid cameras being set on her head during media scrums. A life-long sports fan, she can be found at Mediacom Ice Park or watching NHL games or international soccer friendlies in her spare time. This entry was posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink.

Source: http://blogs.news-leader.com/msu/2011/05/13/softball-bears-advance-to-valley-championship/

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