DECATUR, Ala. -- After scoring just one run in its season opener Saturday, the bats for the Missouri S&T softball team came to life in the second game of the day as the Lady Miners rallied for a 13-10 victory over Delta State at the Charger Chillout.
Earlier in the day, 15th-ranked Valdosta State handed the Lady Miners a 9-1 loss in their opener.
In the win over Delta State, S&T got on the board right away as second baseman Kandi Wieberg led off the game with a home run. Later in the inning, Kristen Drage drove home a run with a ground out to stake herself to a 2-0 lead.
The Lady Miners then exploded for five runs in the second, all of them coming with two outs. Back-to-back hits from Becky Davis and Becca Kueny opened the frame, then Rachel Wilkinson singled after the next two batters were retired to bring home Davis. After Kelsey Musselman was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Emily Tucker drew a walk to bring home the second run of the inning.
Drage was walked to score another run, then Coley Naughton singled home two more runs to give S&T a 7-0 lead.
The Statesmen got three runs back in the third, then after Musselman homered in the top of the fourth to make it 8-3, Delta State knocked Drage out of the game with a seven-run outburst in its half of the inning.
The Lady Miners came back in the fifth with another rally that started with two outs to get the lead back. After the first two hitters were retired, pinch-hitter Katie Smith singled and Wieberg drew a walk. Wilkinson followed with a run-scoring double to bring S&T to within one, then back-to-back RBI singles by Musselman and Tucker gave the Lady Miners an 11-10 lead.
S&T added two insurance runs in the seventh on an RBI double by Wilkinson and an run-scoring hit by Tucker.
Wilkinson and Tucker had three hits and three runs batted in during the contest; the Lady Miners had 17 hits as a team. Ashley Wallingford, who entered the game in relief in the fourth, got the victory in the circle.
In the earlier game, Valdosta State tagged Wallingford for a run in the third, then scored six times in the fourth to take control of the contest. The big blow in the inning was Alex Acosta's grand slam, one of four home runs hit by the Blazers.
The Lady Miners got their only run on a solo homer by Naughton to lead off the fourth, one of her three hits in the game. Tucker had two hits for the Lady Miners as well.
S&T will face Georgia College & State and West Georgia Sunday.
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