Junior pitcher Erin Struemph fired her second-consecutive three-hitter in conference play and blanked visiting Bradley as the Missouri State softball team won the series opener, 5-0, at Meador Park on Friday night. The Bears (12-14, 2-1) got four of their five runs with two outs in the game.
Struemph struck out six batters in her seventh complete game of the season. She allowed just a single walk in the game and held the Braves (7-17, 2-2) hitless until the fourth inning.
Hannah Heinrichs, Mary Stephens and Hailee Vigneaux each contributed two hits on the offensive side. Stephens and Vigneaux drove in a run each. Heinrichs and Vigneaux scored a run as well.
“She (Erin Struemph) was dominating,” said head coach Holly Hesse. “I thought she did a good job of getting ahead of hitters and keeping her pitch count down. We had some great timely hitting today. I was really pleased with our pitch selection and the way we swung the bats tonight.”
The Bears first rally came with two outs in the bottom of the second. Singles by Elena Gambill, Darian Frost and Vigneaux pushed home the first run of the game.
MSU added a run in the third as Erika Velasquez Zimmer reached on a bunt single and stole second base. She scored on a double to left-center by Stephens.
In the Bears’ fourth, another two-out rally puts a pair of runs on the board. Vigneaux and Heinrichs reached on back-to-back infield singles. Madison Jones then singled through the right side to push home the first run of the frame. Then with runners on the corners, Jones stole second and on the throw to second, Heinrichs came home to make it 4-0.
MSU continued to put the pressure on in the sixth. Frost drew a leadoff walk. Pinch runner Kyana Mason stole second. An infield single by Heinrichs put runners on the corners. With two outs, pinch hitter Molly Fields drew a walk to load the bases. Stephens grounded sharply to third, but the ball was botted by the BU defense to allow the fifth run of the game to touch home.
The Bears and Braves will conclude the series with an 11:00 a.m. doubleheader on Saturday. Following this weekend’s action, MSU will play at Arkansas on Tuesday before travelling to Loyola for a Valley series April 2-3.
