TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Missouri State softball (29-17, 19-4 MVC) tied the series with an 8-7 victory over Indiana State (25-24, 13-10 MVC) here Saturday afternoon.
At the plate, McKenzie Vaughan went 2-for-4 with four RBI, a run scored and a two-run homer. Her first-inning home run broke the Missouri State single-season record as she now owns 13 long balls on the season. Ellie McCoy also turned in a multiple hit game, going 3-for-4 with three runs scored on the afternoon. In the circle, Vaughan (5-5) earned the victory after hurling 2.1 innings in relief, allowing just one earned run on two hits.
The game was ultimately a back-and-forth battle until the last out, but the Bears continued to show tremendous fight and came out victorious.
Missouri State got things rolling right off the bat as McCoy hit a leadoff single through the left side and Vaughan followed two batters later with a two-run homer to center field to give the Bears a 2-0 lead after one.
Indiana State responded quickly, posting a four-run inning in the home half of the first via three hits, an error and three walks to go ahead 4-2 after one. From there, both squads went scoreless for the next three innings before the offenses started getting hot again.
In the top of the fifth inning, MSU put together an impressive two-out rally, which started with an Alex Boze hit by pitch and back-to-back singles Kelsie Lewis and McCoy to load the bases. Then, freshman Sidney McLaughlin came on to pinch hit and drew a bases-loaded walk after seven pitches to earn an RBI. In the next at-bat, the Bears took advantage of a Sycamore error on a sky-high infield pop-up, scoring two runs on the play to take a 5-4 lead.
Once again, Indiana State had an answer for the Bears. After a leadoff walk and two outs courtesy of a strikeout and fly out, ISU sent a homer over the wall in left center field to reclaim the lead, 6-5, with five innings in the books.
The Bears went down in order in the sixth, while the Sycamores tacked on an extra run in the bottom half of the inning. A leadoff single started the momentum for ISU, and after a fielder’s choice and a ground out, a single down the right field line scored a run to extend Indiana State’s lead to 7-5.
With three outs to work with, the Bears came to the plate in the top of the seventh and quickly showed they were going to put up a fight to the end. Boze led things off with a single to left field and two batters later, McCoy knocked a double to left field to put runners at second and third with one out for MSU. Freshman Abby Ford then delivered a single to left field that scored pinch runner Chloe Merced and made it a one-run ballgame.
Ford stole second as the Bears again had two runners in scoring position with one out and Vaughan coming to the plate. The sophomore delivered the final blow, sending a single through the right side that scored two runs to give MSU an 8-7 lead heading to the bottom of the seventh.
Vaughan and the Bear defense closed it out, recording three ground outs in four batters faced to secure the 8-7 victory and force a rubber match on Sunday.
The Bears and Sycamores will vie for the series victory tomorrow (April 30) with first pitch in Terre Haute set for 11 a.m. CT. The game will stream on ESPN+.
