SPRINGFIELD – Missouri State softball (24-16, 14-3 MVC) secured the series sweep against UIC (1-38, 0-16 MVC) with a 9-4 victory here Sunday afternoon.
With the wind gusting all day, both squads put runs on the board with MSU improving to 8-0 on the season when scoring six or more runs.
The Bears jumped on the Flames quickly as freshman Abby Ford drew a leadoff walk. A few batters later, Olivia Krehbiel knocked a two-run homer, her second of the season, to left field to give MSU an early 2-0 lead.
Missouri State found an offensive rhythm again in the third inning as Ford got things rolling with an infield single and a stolen base. From there, a UIC error and a Krehbiel bunt single pushed two runs across to extend the lead. Two batters later, sophomore Kenzie Derryberry delivered a sacrifice fly to score the third run of the inning, giving MSU a 5-0 advantage after three.
However, UIC would continue to fight and chip away at the MSU lead. The Flames took advantage of a single and a couple of MSU errors to break through and get on the board in the top of the fourth inning. In the home half of the fourth, Kelsie Lewis sent a one-out, line drive homer over the wall in left field for her second long ball of the season to push the lead back to five runs. Following the home run, Ford worked another walk and stole second to put herself in scoring position as McKenzie Vaughan drove her home with a hard hit single to left field.
With MSU leading 7-1 with four innings in the books, UIC used a big fifth inning to pull things closer. The Flames put three runs on the board via a walk, a single, two doubles and a passed ball to make it a 7-4 ballgame.
MSU threatened in the fifth, but couldn’t push a run across as the Flames headed back to the plate. UIC’s leadoff batter reached on an MSU fielding error, but the momentum was soon taken away as Vaughan tallied a swinging strikeout as catcher Alex Boze threw down to second and caught the UIC runner trying to steal, putting two outs on the board with nobody on base.
The Bears got out of the top half of the sixth unscathed and collected a couple of insurance runs in the home half of the inning. The Bears got a two-out rally started with an Ellie McCoy infield single, followed by a Vaughan RBI single through the left side and a Krehbiel RBI double to the right center field gap to extend the lead to 9-4 in favor of Missouri State.
Makenzie Swick came on to toss the final inning as MSU secured the series sweep and moved to 11-0 at home this season, pushing its home win streak to 14 games dating back to last season.
Krehbiel had an outstanding day at the plate, going 4-for-4 with a double, home run, four RBI, two runs scored and a stolen base. Her four hits set a career high for the senior. Vaughan also logged a multi-hit performance with a 2-for-4 outing that included two RBI and a run scored. Derryberry and Lewis accounted for MSU’s remaining RBI on the day, while Ford scored three runs, tallied a hit and drew two walks.
In the circle, Gracie Johnston earned the victory to move to 11-6 on the season. She tossed 4.1 innings, while allowing three hits, four runs (two earned) and striking out four Flames. Vaughan and Swick combined for 2.2 scoreless relief innings.
MSU will be back in action next weekend as the Bears welcome Belmont to Killian Stadium for a three-game Missouri Valley Conference series. The series opener on Friday, April 21 is set to begin at 5 p.m. CT in Springfield.
