Kandi Wieberg

Kandi Wieberg, who established numerous records during her four-season playing career at Missouri S&T, has been selected to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America second team for the recently completed 2008 season.

Wieberg, a civil engineering major at S&T who was named to the 2007 academic team as well, finished the year with a .320 batting average, 10 home runs and 17 runs batted in from the leadoff spot in the lineup. She also had a .440 on-base percentage and .567 slugging percentage to go along with a team-high 16 stolen bases; her 32 walks set a new S&T single-season record and she is ranked among the national leaders in walks per game.

She completed her four-year career with the Lady Miners as the holder or co-holder of 13 records at Missouri S&T. She stands atop the all-time lists for doubles with 49, home runs with 34, runs scored with 169 and runs batted in with 105 and her 223 hits are second on the all-time list at S&T.

Wieberg was an All-America selection on the field as a junior as she was named to both the National Fastpitch Coaches Association and Daktronics All-America squads in a season where she was selected as the "Player of the Year" in the Great Lakes Valley Conference and as the "Student-Athlete of the Year" for softball in the GLVC. She is a two-time selection to the All-GLVC first team and all-region squads at second base.

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Kelsey Musselman

For the second season in a row, a member of the Missouri S&T softball team has landed a spot on the Daktronics Inc., All-America softball team.

After Kandi Wieberg made the initial Daktronics squad last spring, third baseman Kelsey Musselman was named to this season's third team on the team released over the weekend.

Musselman, the "Player of the Year" in both the Great Lakes region and Great Lakes Valley Conference in the 2008 season, was named to the squad after a season in which she led the Lady Miners with a .422 batting average -- which was good for second in the GLVC behind the .430 mark posted by Wisconsin-Parkside's Amanda Miller -- while leading the league in slugging percentage, on-base percentage and home runs.

Musselman had a school record 14 home runs on the year and drove in 47 runs, while posting a .755 slugging percentage and .500 on-base percentage. Her performance netted her two GLVC "Player of the Week" awards during the year and eventually first-team All-GLVC honors.

She is currently 12th in NCAA Division II for home runs per game and also ranks 35th for runs batted in per contest.

Musselman was named to the all-region first team on both the Daktronics squad, voted on by the sports information directors in NCAA Division II, and on the coaches team which is sponsored by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association.

Lincoln Memorial's Sara Henn was the first-team selection at third base, while Miranda Campbell from eventual national runner-up Emporia State was named to the second team.

The Lady Miners finished the 2008 season with a 26-21 record and were third in the GLVC with a 17-9 mark.

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Kelsey Musselman

For the second time in as many days, three members of the Missouri S&T softball team have been selected to an all-region team for their performances during the recently completed 2008 season by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association.

Third baseman Kelsey Musselman, named Wednesday as the "Player of the Year" on the Daktronics all-region team, was named to the NFCA all-Great Lakes region first team along with second baseman Kandi Wieberg and centerfielder Emily Tucker. Wieberg and Tucker were also first team picks on the Daktronics all-region squad.

During the 2008 campaign, Musselman led the Lady Miners with a .422 batting average -- which was good for second in the GLVC behind the .430 mark posted by Wisconsin-Parkside's Amanda Miller -- while leading the league in slugging percentage, on-base percentage and home runs.

Musselman had a school record 14 home runs on the year and drove in 47 runs, while posting a .755 slugging percentage and .500 on-base percentage. Her performance netted her two GLVC "Player of the Week" awards during the year and eventually first-team All-GLVC honors.

She is currently 12th in NCAA Division II for home runs per game and also ranks 35th for runs batted in per contest.

Wieberg finished the year with a .320 batting average, 10 home runs and 17 runs batted in from the leadoff spot in the lineup. She also had a .440 on-base percentage and .567 slugging percentage to go along with a team-high 16 stolen bases; her 32 walks set a new S&T single-season record and she is ranked among the national leaders in walks per game.

Wieberg had a record-setting career at Missouri S&T, finishing atop the all-time lists for doubles with 49, home runs with 34, runs scored with 169 and runs batted in with 105. Her 223 hits are second on the all-time list at S&T.

Tucker, a second-team all-region selection as a sophomore, moved to the first team as a junior after batting .409 with six home runs and 33 runs batted in. She led S&T with 14 doubles on the season and also drew 19 walks to post a .478 on-base percentage. Her .642 slugging percentage ranks fourth in the conference, while her batting average and on-base marks are third in the league.

Tucker struck out only 12 times in 137 at-bats on the season and had a league-best .440 average in conference games.

The Lady Miners finished the 2008 season with a 26-21 record and were third in the GLVC with a 17-9 mark.

2008 NFCA All-Great Lakes Region -- First team selections
C: Sarah Berry, Wayne State (Mich.)
1B: Kim Locke, Bellarmine
2B: Kandi Wieberg, Missouri S&T
SS: Kelly Dianis, Lewis
3B: Kelsey Musselman, Missouri S&T
OF: Emily Tucker, Missouri S&T
OF: Jessica Breeden, Indianapolis
OF: Kathy Wood, Southern Indiana
UT/P: Stacy Kraatz, Saginaw Valley State
UT/NP: Sadie Ball, Drury
DP: Sara Loete, Southern Indiana
P: Kaitlin Colosimo, SIU Edwardsville
P: Molly Yetman, Wayne State (Mich.)

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Kelsey Musselman

A week ago, Kelsey Musselman was named as the top player in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. This week, she can add the top player in the region to her resume.

Missouri S&T's senior third baseman was named today as the "Player of the Year" for the Great Lakes region on the Daktronics Inc., all-region team which was voted on by the region's sports information directors.

Musselman was one of three Lady Miners named to the first team, joining second baseman Kandi Wieberg and outfielder Emilly Tucker. Wieberg and Tucker were all-region selections last season on the inaugural team and Wieberg went on to be named first-team All-America.

During the recently completed 2008 season, Musselman led the Lady Miners with a .422 batting average -- which was good for second in the GLVC behind the .430 mark posted by Wisconsin-Parkside's Amanda Miller -- while leading the league in slugging percentage, on-base percentage and home runs.

Musselman had a school record 14 home runs on the year and drove in 47 runs, while posting a .755 slugging percentage and .500 on-base percentage. Her performance netted her two GLVC "Player of the Week" awards during the year and eventually first-team All-GLVC honors.

She is currently 12th in NCAA Division II for home runs per game and also ranks 35th for runs batted in per contest.

Wieberg finished the year with a .320 batting average, 10 home runs and 17 runs batted in from the leadoff spot in the lineup. She also had a .440 on-base percentage and .567 slugging percentage to go along with a team-high 16 stolen bases; her 32 walks set a new S&T single-season record and she is ranked among the national leaders in walks per game.

Wieberg had a record-setting career at Missouri S&T, finishing atop the all-time lists for doubles with 49, home runs with 34, runs scored with 169 and runs batted in with 105. Her 223 hits are second on the all-time list at S&T.

Tucker, a second-team all-region selection as a sophomore, moved to the first team as a junior after batting .409 with six home runs and 33 runs batted in. She led S&T with 14 doubles on the season and also drew 19 walks to post a .478 on-base percentage. Her .642 slugging percentage ranks fourth in the conference, while her batting average and on-base marks are third in the league.

Tucker struck out only 12 times in 137 at-bats on the season and had a league-best .440 average in conference games.

The Lady Miners finished the 2008 season with a 26-21 record and were third in the GLVC with a 17-9 mark.

2008 Daktronics Inc. All-Great Lakes Region -- First team selections
C: Mallory Paine, Sr., Lewis
1B: Kim Locke, Sr., Bellarmine
2B: Kandi Wieberg, Sr., Missouri S&T
SS: Kelly Dianis, Jr., Lewis
3B: Kelsey Musselman, Sr., Missouri S&T
OF: Emily Tucker, Jr., Missouri S&T
OF: Jessica Breeden, So., Indianapolis
OF: Jseelica McNurlen, Sr., Mercyhurst
UT: Kara Hensley, Jr., Gannon
DP: Sara Loete, So., Southern Indiana
P: Kaitlin Colosimo, Jr., SIU Edwardsville
P: Courtney Lyons, Jr., Lewis
P: Molly Yetman, Sr., Wayne State (Mich.)

Player of the Year: Kelsey Musselman, 3B, Sr., Missouri S&T
Pitcher of the Year: Kaitlin Colosimo, Jr., SIU Edwardsville

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Kelsey Musselman

EAST PEORIA, Ill. -- Missouri S&T's softball team entered the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament hopeful of playing its way into the NCAA regional next week, but instead saw its season probably come to an end with a pair of losses on the first day of the event.

The Lady Miners dropped games to Rockhurst by a score of 1-0 and to Lewis 10-4 to get eliminated from the tournament. S&T, which entered the league tourney ranked ninth in the NCAA Great Lakes regional rankings, saw its record go to 26-21 on the season.

Rockhurst got the only run of game one in the third inning when Nicole Randolph to start the inning and scored on Holly Hilton's one-out double.

Ashley Wallingford gave up just five hits and struck out five for the Lady Miners, but was outdueled by Emily Dye as she held S&T to three hits in a complete game effort.

The Lady Miners left two runners on base in the first inning, then got the tying run on base three times in the last four innings. A double play ended their chance in the fourth, then they couldn't take advantage of a leadoff hit in the sixth or a two-out walk to Coley Naughton in the seventh.

In the elimination round game against Lewis, S&T jumped on top with two runs in the first. The rally started when Kelsey Musselman reached on an error with two outs, then after a walk to Emily Tucker, Kristen Drage singled to score the first run. A throwing error on the play allowed Tucker to come in with the second run of the inning.

Jen O'Hara allowed one hit in the first two innings and had two outs on the Flyers in the third, but the Lady Miners couldn't get the third out before Lewis scored four times to get the lead. An infield hit by Kelly Dianis kept the inning alive and Carissa Castonzo followed with a two-run double to tie the score. Moments later, Lisa Gartland singled home two more runs to put Lewis on top.

The Lady Miners closed to within one in the fifth when Musselman belted her 14th home run of the season -- breaking the school's single-season record -- but the Flyers pushed its lead out to 9-3 in the bottom half with five more runs.

S&T got one more run in the sixth when Musselman drew a bases loaded walk with one out, but Courtney Lyons got out of the inning with a pop out and a ground out.

Rachel Wilkinson and Drage had two hits apiece for the Lady Miners while Musselman, who was named Wednesday as the GLVC's "Player of the Year" for the 2008 season, drove in two runs and has 47 on the year to go with her 14 home runs. Musselman posted a .422 batting average in her senior year.

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Lady Miners (from left) Kandi Wieberg, Emily Tucker, Kelsey Musselman & Jen O'Hara

For the second year in a row, the Great Lakes Valley Conference's "Player of the Year" in softball hails from Missouri S&T.

Senior third baseman Kelsey Musselman, who leads the conference in four major statistical categories, was named as the league's top player at the conference's awards banquet held Wednesday in Peoria, Ill., on the eve of the GLVC Tournament.

She was also one of four Lady Miners named to the all-league team for the 2008 season as she was joined on the first team by second baseman Kandi Wieberg -- last season's GLVC "Player of the Year" -- and outfielder Emily Tucker, a repeat selection to the first team along with Wieberg. Junior pitcher Jen O'Hara, an honorable mention All-GLVC selection a year ago, was named to the third team.

Musselman currently leads the GLVC with a .426 batting average, .752 slugging percentage, .503 on-base percentage and in home runs with a school record-tying 13. She also ranks among the league leaders in runs batted in with 45 and is one of seven players in the GLVC with at least 60 hits this season.

Wieberg is hitting .331 on the year with 10 home runs and a team-high 16 stolen bases. Her 43 runs scored and 31 walks rank among the top marks in the GLVC as she is completing a record-setting career at Missouri S&T.

Tucker is the GLVC's fifth-leading hitter with a .406 batting average with six home runs and 33 runs batted in. The junior outfielder is among the GLVC leaders in doubles wih 14 and currently owns a slugging percentage of .647 and an on-base percentage of .471, both marks that rank fourth in the league. She is second on the team with 14 stolen bases.

O'Hara is 11-7 in the circle this season with a 2.03 earned run average; she has nine wins in GLVC decisons with a 1.95 ERA in 100 2/3 innings during the conference season. She has pitched 127 2/3 innings with 15 complete games, striking out 68 hitters on the year.

The Lady Miners open play in the GLVC Tournament Thursday against Rockhurst at 10 a.m. S&T is the No. 3 seed for the league tournament and is trying to also earn a berth to the NCAA Great Lakes Regional; the Lady Miners are ninth in the region in this week's rankings.

2008 All-GLVC Softball Team (First team selections)
C: Mallory Paine, Lewis
1B: Kim Locke, Bellarmine
2B: Kandi Wieberg, Missouri S&T
SS: Kelly Dianis, Lewis
3B: Kelsey Musselman, Missouri S&T
DP: Sara Loete, Southern Indiana
UT: Sadie Ball, Drury
OF: Emily Tucker, Missouri S&T
OF: Kathy Wood, Southern Indiana
OF: Jessica Breeden, Indianapolis
P: Kaitlin Colosimo, SIU Edwardsville
P: Courtney Lyons, Lewis
P: Torie Bunzell, Quincy

Third team from Missouri S&T: Jen O'Hara, P.

Player of the Year: Kelsey Musselman, Missouri S&T
Pitcher of the Year: Kaitlin Colosimo, SIU Edwardsville
Freshman of the Year: Torie Bunzell, Quincy
Coach of the Year: George DiMatteo, Lewis

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Kristen Drage

The front half of Senior Day at the Missouri S&T Softball Field belonged to the four Lady Miner seniors, but the younger players took center stage to help S&T secure a doubleheader sweep Sunday afternoon over Saint Joseph's.

The Lady Miners broke up a tie game with a five-run outburst in the sixth inning of the opener to come away with a 7-2 win, then scored runs in the sixth and seventh innings of the nightcap to win 4-3 on Kristen Drage's RBI single in the seventh inning.

By virtue of sweeping the doubleheader, the Lady Miners landed the No. 3 seed for the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament that begins Thursday in East Peoria, Ill. S&T will face No. 6 seed Rockhurst in the opening round at 10 a.m. Thursday.

S&T jumped in front right from the start Sunday, getting consecutive hits from Kandi Wieberg, Rachel Wilkinson and Kelsey Musselman to get on the scoreboard. After a ground out by Kassi Deibert, Katie Smith sliced a single to right to extend the Lady Miner lead to 2-0.

The Pumas tied the score in the third when Jessie Privett and Ashley Reed got two-out RBI singles. The score remained that way until the sixth when the Lady Miners forged a rally that started with an error by Privett that allowed Becca Kueny to reach base.

Becky Davis reached with an infield single, then another error on Allison Plummer's bunt by Privett loaded the bases. Wieberg, one of the four seniors playing their final home game Sunday, looped a hit to center to break the tie.

After Privett got Wilkinson to hit into a fielder choice where the out was made at the plate, Musselman blasted a grand slam over the fence in center to bust the game open. The home run was the 13th of the season for the S&T third baseman, which ties the single season mark set by Holly Weinberg two years ago.

Jen O'Hara got the win for S&T as she scattered five hits and struck out four to improve to 11-7 on the year. The four seniors -- Wieberg, Wilkinson, Musselman and Kueny -- combined for eight of the team's 11 hits, with Musselman getting three of them and driving in five runs.

The Lady Miners jumped on top in game two as well, scoring twice off Sara Somogyi in the third. After a one-out walk to Davis and a sacrifice bunt, Wieberg hit a ball the other way that landed between the second baseman and rightfielder for an RBI double.

Moments later, Wieberg scored when she stole third and came home when the throw went past the third baseman.

But the Pumas got a run back in the fourth and took the lead in the sixth, as Privett doubled home the tying run and the go-ahead tally came on a wild pitch. S&T evened the score in the bottom half when Wilkinson led off with a double into the gap and Musselman singled through the hole between third and short to bring her home.

Ashley Wallingford pitched out of trouble in the seventh as the Pumas got two runners on base, then the bottom of the Lady Miner order set the table for the game-winning run.

Davis bunted her way on to open the inning, then Plummer hit a ball towards third that the Pumas had no play on. With the winning run at second, Somogyi got two strikeouts before walking Musselman to load the bases for Drage. The Lady Miner freshman went through a 15-pitch battle with the Puma hurler, fouling off 11 pitches during the course of the at-bat before grounding a single past a diving Theresa Weinzerl to end the game.

S&T, now 26-19 on the season, had six hits in game two. Wallingford gave up seven hits and struck out five to get her 13th victory of the year.

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With their hopes of landing an at-large berth to the NCAA regional tournament essentially hanging by a thread, the Lady Miner softball rallied in the bottom of the seventh inning to beat Indianapolis 3-2 to gain a split of Saturday's Great Lakes Valley Conference doubleheader at the S&T Softball Field.

The victory also locked up a berth in the conference tournament for the Lady Miners heading into their final two league games Sunday against Saint Joseph's at noon; the Pumas are still trying to land one of the eight playoff berths on the final day of the season.

Indianapolis, ranked fourth in the NCAA Great Lakes region, took the first game 4-3.

The Greyhounds took the lead in the opening inning of each game, taking the lead in game two when Jessica Breeden scored from second on a wild pitch. The Lady Miners tied the contest in the second when Emily Tucker walked, went to third on a throwing error after a walk to Kassi Deibert and scored on Becca Kueny's groundout to second.

But UIndy went back in front in the fourth when Maggie Swanson's sacrifice fly brought in Jenny Swanson. Ashley Wallingford was able to get out of the inning without allowing another run, then pitched around hits in the sixth and seventh to keep it a one-run game.

The Lady Miners had runners on base in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings, but couldn't push a run across, then got a leadoff walk to Becky Davis in the seventh to set up the winning rally.

After a sacrifice attempt failed, Kandi Wieberg drew a walk and Rachel Wilkinson hit a ball in the gap that Maggie Swanson couldn't come up with in a diving effort. Katie Smith and Wieberg came around with the tying and winning runs to bring the Lady Miners back even with the Greyhounds for third place in the GLVC standings.

Wilkinson had two of S&T's five hits in the nightcap, while Wallingford held the Greyhounds to four hits and struck out three.

In the opener, Jenny Swanson's first inning homer was matched by Tucker's homer to lead off the second to tie the game. However, the fourth inning was disasterous for S&T as UIndy got three runs in part from two Lady Miner errors.

A leadoff walk was followed by an error, then Maggie Swanson's RBI single put the Greyhounds in front. Later in the inning, another error allowed two more runs to come home to give the visitors a 4-1 lead.

Tucker belted her second homer of the game in the bottom of the fourth to bring S&T back to within two, then Allison Plummer scored on a wild pitch an inning later to make it 4-3. But the Lady Miners left two runners on base in scoring position in that frame and couldn't get another rally started against Megan Russell.

The Lady Miners managed only five hits in the opener and Russell struck out 13 to get the win. Jen O'Hara took the loss for S&T despite allowing just six hits and fanning five.

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Lady Miner softball team finished a doubleheader with a split for the fifth consecutive time Thursday, rallying for a 4-2 victory over Rockhurst in the second game after the Hawks took game one by a count of 5-1.

The split moves Missouri S&T into a tie for third place in the Great Lakes Valley Conference with Indianapolis at 14-8 in league play, with the Greyhounds coming to Rolla for a twinbill Saturday at noon. S&T will wrap up its league slate Sunday when it hosts Saint Joseph's.

The Lady Miners never led in the opener, but got the lead in game two when Kandi Wieberg led off with a hit and later scored on Emily Tucker's sacrifice fly.

After Holly Hilton's two-run double gave the Hawks a 2-1 lead in the third, the Lady Miners drew even in the fifth with a two-out rally. Tucker singled, stole second, then advanced to third when Kristen Drage reached on an error. Krista Porterfield came in to run for Drage and got herself caught in a rundown between first and second long enough to allow Tucker to come in to score.

S&T moved into the lead in the sixth as Becca Kueny singled with one out (Allison Plummer came in to run for her), then pinch-hitter Kassi Deibert and Katie Smith followed with hits to bring in Plummer. The Lady Miners got an insurance run in the seventh when Drage doubled in Tucker.

Ashley Wallingford held the Hawks to five hits in the game and got help from her defense in the seventh when a double play helped extinguish a Rockhurst threat.

S&T was held to four hits in the opener and got its only run in the fifth when Becky Davis scored on an error. Rockhurst got four runs in the first -- three of which were unearned -- off starter Jen O'Hara and tacked on another tally in the fourth.

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EVANSVILLE, Ind. -- The Lady Miner softball team lived on the edge all day long, but after pulling out a win in the opener, couldn't hold off Southern Indiana in the second game and had to settle for a split of its Great Lakes Valley Conference doubleheader.

Missouri S&T took game one of the twinbill 3-2, but USI overcame the Lady Miners' rally in the nightcap and won the game 5-4 with a run in the seventh inning.

In the opener, the Lady Miners grabbed the lead in the third when Rachel Wilkinson singled with two outs and Kelsey Musselman hit her league-best 12th home run of the season to center to give S&T a 2-0 lead.

Southern Indiana tied the game with single runs in the third and fourth innings, scoring in the third on Kristen Eickholt's leadoff homer and in the fourth when Sara Loete singled in Kathy Wood.

In the fifth, Kandi Wieberg singled with one out and stole second. After Wilkinson struck out, the Eagles elected to walk Musselman with first base open to pitch to Emily Tucker, but the Lady Miner centerfielder delivered with a run-scoring single to put S&T back in front.

Jen O'Hara pitched into and out of trouble throughout the game as she did not a single perfect inning, but got the big outs when she needed them to improve her record to 10-4. O'Hara forced USI to leave the bases loaded on two occasions, including the sixth inning, as the Eagles left 13 runners on base in the contest.

Southern Indiana would end up leaving 25 runners on base in the two games combined.

S&T jumped on top in the opening inning of game two when Tucker singled home Wieberg. The Eagles tied the game in the third on Eickholt's two-out RBI single, but left the bases loaded after scoring and did so again in the fourth against Lady Miner starter Ashley Wallingford.

However, USI didn't waste its scoring opportunity in the fifth as Ally McKinley's two-out double broke the tie and two more run-scoring hits later in the frame gave the Eagles a 4-1 lead.

The Lady Miners answered back in the sixth as they loaded the bases to start the inning on a walk to Wilkinson and singles by Musselman and Tucker. Kristen Drage got the first run home with a hit, then a wild pitch with two outs allowed Tucker to come in to score.

A walk to pinch-hitter Kassi Deibert loaded the bases again, then Stephanie Schneider walked Katie Smith to force in the tying run. The Eagles were able to escape when Eickholt, who entered the game to pitch after the walk to Smith, got Wieberg to ground out.

S&T had a chance in the seventh after Wilkinson opened the inning with a hit, but it couldn't get anything beyond that. O'Hara, who replaced Wallingford during the course of the Eagles' outburst in the fifth, retired the first two hitters in the seventh but gave up a walk to Kirsten Morgan. The walk was followed by a double by Heather Swarts that chased home the winning run.

Tucker and Drage had two hits apiece for S&T in the second game.

The Lady Miners (22-17, 13-7 GLVC) will play a make-up doubleheader at Rockhurst Thursday; the game was moved from Tuesday after the S&T games at USI had to be played on Monday. Following Thursday's games that start at 2 p.m., S&T will return home for its final two twinbills of season on Saturday against Indianapolis and Sunday against Saint Joseph's.

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OWENSBORO, Ky. -- Playing for the first time in 11 days, the Missouri S&T dropped the first game of Sunday's doubleheader at Kentucky Wesleyan in extra innings before routing the Panthers 9-0 in game two to gain a split of the twinbill.

The Panthers took game one 5-4 in nine innings.

S&T grabbed a 6-0 lead after three innings and then ended the game after six innings after scoring three more runs in the top half of that inning.

The Lady Miners got two runs in the first when Kristen Drage reached on an error with the bases loaded to score a run, then Becca Kueny delivered an RBI single. S&T extended its lead in the second when Emily Tucker drove in a pair of runs with a double and scored herself moments later on a hit by Drage.

Rachel Wilkinson's RBI hit in the third pushed the S&T lead to 6-0, then the Lady Miners put the game away in the sixth with an RBI double by Kueny and a two-run homer off the bat of Coley Naughton.

Ashley Wallingford allowed just three hits over the first five innings to get the win; Drage, who played her prep softball near Owensboro, threw a scoreless sixth to wrap up the game.

Wilkinson, Tucker and Kueny all had three hits for S&T in game two as the Lady Miners banged out 14 hits.

In the first game, the Panthers scored three in the opening inning to take an early lead, but S&T scored single runs in the second and third and took the lead with two runs in the fifth.

Drage got the first of her three hits in the game to start the second and came in to score on a ground out off the bat of Kueny, then Kandi Wieberg scored in the third after a leadoff hit, a stolen base, a ground out and an RBI single by Tucker.

S&T got its first lead of the game in the fifth on a rally that started with a one-out hit by Kelsey Musselman. That hit was followed by another single by Tucker, then Drage doubled to bring home Musselman. Naughton followed that with a successful squeeze bunt that scored Tucker to give S&T a 4-3 lead.

However, the Panthers' Mariel Hamer led off the sixth with a double off Jen O'Hara, then after a sacrifice bunt moved pinch-runner Mindy Woolsey to third, an error with two outs allowed the tying run to score.

The Lady Miners left runners on base in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings, leaving two on in the eighth. The Panthers won the game in the bottom of the ninth after a hit by winning pitcher Haleigh Ashworth brought home Gabrielle Simmons, who had reached on an error to start the inning.

The Lady Miners (21-16, 12-6 GLVC) will play at Southern Indiana Monday (2 p.m. start) in a make-up doubleheader from Saturday's postponement. The Eagles lost both ends of their twinbill Sunday to Missouri-St. Louis.

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Ashley Wallingford

After being shut down by Missouri-St. Louis' Allyson DeFosset in the first game of Wednesday's doubleheader, Missouri S&T's Ashley Wallingford returned the favor in the nightcap to give the Lady Miners a split of the Great Lakes Valley Conference twinbill.

S&T took a 7-0 decision in the second game on Wallingford's three-hitter after DeFosset won the opener for the Tritons by a
2-0 count as she struck out 14 in a five-hit effort.

The Lady Miners got their first run of the day in the second inning of game two when Kristen Drage singled through the hole to drive in Emily Tucker, who had doubled to get the inning started. The Lady Miners loaded the bases prior to the hit by Drage and still had them loaded with nobody out, but couldn't push another run across.

However, Wallingford -- who faced just two batters over the minimum -- kept the Tritons off the scoreboard and the offense gradually extended the lead until it busted the game open in the sixth.

Becca Kueny's homer to the opposite field in the fourth made it 2-0, the S&T added a run in the fifth when Kelsey Musselman scored on a wild pitch.

In the sixth, the Lady Miner outburst started with a leadoff walk to Kueny. After a sacrifice bunt, Kandi Wieberg walked and a wild pitch allowed Kueny to move to third. Wieberg stole second, then an error on a slowly hit ball by Rachel Wilkinson allowed Kueny to score.

Musselman's sacrifice fly made it 5-0, then Tucker belted a home run to left center to close the scoring.

Tucker had three of S&T's six hits in the second game.

In the first game, the Lady Miners threatened in the opening inning when Musselman and Tucker got hits with two outs, but DeFosset struck out Drage to get out of the inning.

The Tritons got all the runs they needed in the second on a two-run single by Carly Maddock with two outs in the inning. UMSL got four of its seven hits off S&T pitcher Jen O'Hara in that inning.

DeFosset set down 10 straight Lady Miners in one stretch and finished with the 14 strikeouts, getting at least one in every inning.

Coley Naughton had two of S&T's five hits in game one. O'Hara finished with five strikeouts in the circle.

The Lady Miners (20-15, 11-5 GLVC) will take a break from GLVC play over the next week as it will play in the Jennies Invitational Saturday and Sunday in Warrensburg, Mo. S&T will take on Missouri Southern at 4 p.m. and host Central Missouri at 6 p.m. Saturday, then face those teams again Sunday at 2 and 4 p.m.

Missouri S&T will then host Drury in a non-conference doubleheader April 17 at 2 p.m. before returning to the league circuit two days later at Southern Indiana.

Posted by John Kean at 06:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Krista Porterfield

The Missouri S&T softball team rebounded from dropping a pair to Great Lakes Valley Conference leader Lewis to gain a split of Sunday's twinbill with Wisconsin-Parkside at the S&T Softball Field, winning the opener 4-3 but dropping game two by a count of 6-2.

The Lady Miners came out of weekend in a tie for second place in the conference with Southern Indiana, as the Eagles won three of four including a sweep Sunday over Northern Kentucky. Both teams are 10-4 in league play and trail Lewis, who is 9-1 in the GLVC.

S&T was able to take advantage of some wildness by Ranger pitcher Meagan Shimkus to win the first game, as she walked five batters and threw five wild pitches -- all of which came in the two innings that the Lady Miners scored in.

The Lady Miners took the lead in the third and a walk to Kassi Deibert with one out got the rally started. Deibert moved to second on the first wild pitch, then Kandi Wieberg drew a walk. Another wild pitch moved the runners up to second and third for Rachel Wilkinson, who delivered a sacrifice fly to score pinch-runner Krista Porterfield to give S&T the lead. Kelsey Musselman singled home Wieberg, then after moving up on another Shimkus wild pitch, scored on Emily Tucker's double into the left field corner.

Wisconsin-Parkside loaded the bases with nobody out in the fifth against Jen O'Hara, but the Lady Miners cut down two runners at the plate on ground balls to keep the shutout intact. O'Hara got another ground ball that could have got the Lady Miners out of the inning, but a wild throw allowed two runs to score.

The Rangers tied the game in the sixth when Lisa Casey scored on a passed ball, but the Lady Miners were able to string together a rally to get the lead back in the bottom half of the frame.

After Kristen Drage was retired to start the inning, S&T got hits from Katie Smith and Coley Naughton before Deibert drew a two-out walk. With Wieberg at the plate, Shimkus fired a pitch over the head of catcher Krista Kelly which allowed Smith to score the go-ahead run.

Given the lead back, O'Hara completed her five-hitter by retiring the Rangers in order in the seventh to improve her record to 9-2 on the season. Musselman had two of S&T's six hits in the opener.

In the nightcap, the Rangers scored single runs in each of the first two innings, then added three in the third and one in the sixth before S&T mounted its best offensive threat of the game in the bottom half of the inning.

Musselman led off with a single, then after she was forced at second, Drage got a hit and Deibert followed with one as well to bring in Tucker. A walk to Naughton loaded the bases and Smith drew a two-out walk to force in a run and cut the lead to 6-2. However, UWP pitcher Jessica Bryant got Wieberg -- at the plate representing the tying run -- to fly out to end the rally.

Bryant held S&T to six hits in the second game; Ashley Wallingford took the loss for the Lady Miners.

S&T (19-14, 10-4 GLVC) returns to action Wednesday when it hosts Missouri-St. Louis in GLVC play in a 2 p.m. doubleheader.

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The Lady Miners' hope of overtaking Lewis for first place in the Great Lakes Valley Conference Saturday was denied by the 21st-ranked Flyers, as the visitors swept a pair from Missouri S&T by scores of 4-3 and 6-2 at the S&T Softball Field.

With the victories, Lewis remains undefeated in GLVC play -- with doubleheader sweeps over both S&T and defending national champion SIU Edwardsville already on the docket -- while the Lady Miners drop to 18-13 overall and 9-3 in conference play.

The Flyers took advantage of S&T mistakes to get the lead in both games, but had to hold off a rally effort by the Lady Miners in the nightcap that had the sizable crowd on hand on the edge of their seats.

A two-out error in the third inning of game one allowed Lewis' All-America shortstop, Kelly Dianis, to bat and she delivered a two-run double to the fence to put the Flyers in front.

Katie Smith hit a two-out homer in the fourth to cut the lead in half, then S&T loaded the bases on consecutive hits by Coley Naughton, Becky Davis and Melissa Ruth. However, Kandi Wieberg flied out to end that threat and Lewis scored two more runs in the fifth on another RBI hit by Dianis and a squeeze bunt that scored Carla Musillo to go up 4-1.

Aside from the Smith homer in the fourth, Diana Pickrum kept the Lady Miners off the scoreboard until the seventh when S&T got a rally started with a leadoff walk to Wieberg. Rachel Wilkinson followed with a hit and Kelsey Musselman singled to right center to bring in Wieberg and bring about a pitching change.

Julie Wingerter entered the game for Pickrum but struggled with her control, walking Emily Tucker to load the bases and then throwing a wild pitch to score Wilkinson. Following the wild pitch, Wingerter was replaced by Courtney Lyons, who proceeded to walk Kristen Drage to load the bases again.

But moments later, Lyons helped herself get out of the jam by spearing a liner off Smith's bat and turning it into a double play, then got Naughton to foul out to third to end the game.

The Lady Miners had 10 hits in the opener, with Wilkinson and Smith getting two apiece. Jen O'Hara took the loss for S&T.

In game two, another early error allowed Lewis to get the lead in the early innings. With runners on second and third and one out, Kayla Smith lined out to short for the second out, but a throw to third to try and double off the runner was wild and allowed Lisa Gartland to score.

The Flyers followed that by putting three runs on the board off S&T starter Ashley Wallingford in the fourth, as Carissa Castonzo's two-run double made it 3-0 and a hit by Gartland brought in the third run of the inning.

S&T trimmed that lead in half when Naughton delivered with a two-out, two-run in the bottom of the fourth, but the Flyers kept the Lady Miners at bay with home runs off the bats of Kayla Smith to lead off the fifth and Castonzo to start off the sixth.

Naughton had two of S&T's five hits in game two.

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For the third time this season, a member of the Missouri S&T softball team has been named as the Great Lakes Valley Conference's "Player of the Week" as senior second baseman Kandi Wieberg is this week's selection.

Wieberg batted .464 in eight Lady Miner contests last week, in which S&T won six including four-of-four in GLVC play over Bellarmine and Northern Kentucky. She had 13 hits in 28 at bats in the eight contests with seven runs scored, three home runs, four runs batted in from the leadoff spot in the lineup and one double.

In Sunday's doubleheader sweep at Northern Kentucky, Wieberg was five-of-seven with three runs scored and two runs batted in. She is currently hitting .384 on the season with 10 home runs and 31 runs scored.

The Lady Miners, 18-11 overall and 9-1 in the GLVC, will host conference leader Lewis Saturday at noon at the S&T Softball Field.

Posted by John Kean at 09:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Missouri S&T softball team will host Pizza Day Saturday afternoon when it plays host to Lewis University in a key Great Lakes Valley Conference doubleheader at the S&T Softball Field.

Free pizza -- while supplies last -- will be available to fans attending the noon doubleheader with the Flyers that begins at noon at the S&T Softball Field. The pizza will provided by Papa John's, a member of the Miners Corporate Club, and will be served between games of the twinbill.

The Lady Miners and Lewis will enter Saturday's doubleheader as the top two teams in the GLVC, as Lewis is in first place with a 6-0 record followed by the Lady Miners at 9-1. Admission to the games is free.

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HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. -- The Missouri S&T softball team wrapped up a successful road trip with another doubleheader sweep Sunday, as it won a pair from Northern Kentucky by scores of 12-4 and 4-1.

The wins extended the 18-11 Lady Miners' winning streak to five games and moved them to 9-1 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference heading into Saturday's showdown with league leader Lewis at the S&T Softball Field.

S&T jumped on top in the opening inning of game one when Emily Tucker belted a three-run homer, then added a run in the second when an error following a hit by Rachel Wilkinson allowed Becky Davis to score.

After NKU cut the lead in half with a pair of runs off Jen O'Hara in the second, S&T put four on the board in the fourth. Kandi Wieberg started the rally with a solo homer with one out in the inning, then a hit by Wilkinson was followed by a run scoring double by Kelsey Musselman. Kristen Drage and Coley Naughton added RBIs before the inning ended.

The Norse scored twice in the bottom half of the fourth, but the Lady Miners scored four more runs in the fifth to help bring about a close to the game due to the eight-run rule. Wieberg's RBI single started the scoring, then after she stole second, Wilkinson drove her home with a hit. Drage's two-run double later in the inning closed out the scoring.

S&T had 15 hits in game one to back O'Hara, with Wieberg, Wilkinson and Tucker all getting three apiece. Tucker drove in three runs as did Drage, who had two hits along with Davis in the opener.

The Lady Miners took the lead in game two on Katie Smith's RBI single in the second, but the Norse tied the game on a squeeze bunt in the fourth. S&T answered the Norse run with three in the fifth to take the lead for good.

With two outs, Musselman and Tucker reached base with hits, then Drage ripped a three-run homer off April Ehlers to give S&T a 4-1 lead. Ashley Wallingford took care of matters from there as she pitched around a hit in the fifth and then got Stephanie West to hit into a double play to end the game in the seventh.

Drage had two of S&T's 10 hits and finished the day by driving in six runs. Wieberg and Musselman also had two hits apiece for the Lady Miners. In the circle, Wallingford recorded a season-high nine strikeouts and allowed just six hits to pick up her third straight win.

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Ashley Wallingford

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- The Missouri S&T softball team got two strong pitching performances -- including the team's first no-hitter in three seasons -- to win a pair of Great Lakes Valley Conference games Saturday at Bellarmine.

Jen O'Hara threw a three-hit shutout to give the Lady Miners a 1-0 win in eight innings in the opener, then Ashley Wallingford followed by throwing a no-hitter in the nightcap to complete the sweep as S&T blasted the Knights 13-0 in game two.

O'Hara was locked in a pitcher's dual with Bellarmine's Casey Willard in the opener, as the teams traded zeroes for the first seven innings. The Lady Miners missed a good scoring chance in the fourth with two on and nobody out, but couldn't advance the runners beyond first and second.

Meanwhile, the Knights had just five baserunners in the first seven innings, but only one of those runners made it as far as second.

In the eighth, Wallingford came up as a pinch-hitter and reached on an error. Another error on a ball hit by Kandi Wieberg put runners on first and third, then an infield single by Rachel Wilkinson loaded the bases. Kelsey Musselman followed by breaking up the scoreless game with a hit to left to bring in Wallingford.

O'Hara hit a batter with one out in the eighth, but got two ground balls to finish off the three-hit shutout.

Wilkinson and Musselman had three hits apiece and Becca Kueny added two for S&T in game one.

The Lady Miners wasted no time in getting the lead in game two against Willard, as Wieberg led off the game with a home run to put S&T ahead. Later in the inning, Emily Tucker delivered an RBI single to put the Lady Miners up by two.

S&T added three more runs in the third on run scoring hits by Kassi Deibert and Kueny and a sacrifice fly off the bat of Coley Naughton, then the Lady Miners busted the game wide open with eight runs in the fifth.

Wieberg hit her second home run of the game to start the scoring, then Musselman belted her league-leading 11th homer two batters later. Krista Porterfield and Wilkinson also delivered hits that scored two runs apiece during a frame in which the Lady Miners sent 13 batters to the plate.

In the meantime, Wallingford was mowing down the Knights as just one runner reached base in five innings; that hitter reached on a two-out error in the third.

Wallingford's no-hitter was the first by a Lady Miner pitcher since Renee Roberts threw one against Northern State on March 11, 2005. The Lady Miners' doubleheader sweep by shutout was the first of its kind since March 16, 2006 against Minnesota-Crookston.

S&T (16-11, 7-1 GLVC) will play at Northern Kentucky Sunday.

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HARROGATE, Tenn. -- After dropping the first game of Thursday's doubleheader at Lincoln Memorial in extra innings, the Lady Miners got a gem from sophomore Ashley Wallingford in the nightcap to get a 5-0 to gain a split of the twinbill.

Lincoln Memorial scored a run in the bottom of the eighth to take game one 5-4.

MIssouri S&T got on the board in the second game in the fourth inning when Becca Kueny singled; an error by the centerfielder allowed Katie Smith to come in to score.

Staked to the lead, Wallingford induced a double play ball to overcome a leadoff hit in the bottom of the fourth, then got two strikeouts in the sixth after the first two runners reached base to help her escape that jam and keep the 1-0 lead.

She got some breathing room in the seventh when Katie Smith hit a grand slam to push the lead out to the eventual 5-0 margin.

Wallingford allowed just four hits and struck out four to even her record at 6-6. Kandi Wieberg had three hits for S&T and Smith had two that included the grand slam.

In the first game, the Lady Miners rallied twice from two-run deficits to draw even, only to see LMU win the game in the bottom of the eighth.

The Railsplitters scored single runs off Jen O'Hara in the first and third innings, but S&T drew even in the fifth. Rachel Wilkinson and Kelsey Musselman opened the inning with back-to-back doubles to cut the lead in half, then a one-out single by Smith brought Musselman in with the tying run.

LMU moved back in front in the bottom half of the inning on Sara Henn's two-run homer, but the Lady Miners answered by tying it back up in the sixth when Wilkinson doubled in two. However, S&T couldn't get the lead despite having the bases loaded with one out as a strikeout and a fielder's choice ended the inning.

With the international tie-breaker rule in effect in the eighth, the Lady Miners were unable to push a run across. Lincoln Memorial then won it when Amanda Wampler led off with a hit down the line in right to score the winning run.

Wilkinson had three hits for the Lady Miners while Smith and Becca Kueny had two hits apiece. S&T had 11 hits in game one.

The Lady Miners (14-11) will be idle Friday before resuming Great Lakes Valley Conference play Saturday against Bellarmine in Louisville, Ky.

Posted by John Kean at 08:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

WILLIAMSBURG, Ky. -- The Missouri S&T softball team opened its reconstructed spring break trip with a doubleheader split Wednesday, as they took the first of two games with West Alabama by the score of 7-3. The Tigers game two 4-1.

The doubleheader with West Alabama, as well as Thursday's at Lincoln Memorial, were brought about after the original games at Grand Valley State, Wayne State (Mich.) and Ashland were cancelled due to field conditions. S&T picked up the two mid-week doubleheaders to replace them prior to resuming conference play Saturday at Bellarmine.

S&T never trailed in the first game, scoring runs in each of the first three innings and tacking on single runs in the sixth and seventh. The Lady Miners put two runs across in the opening inning when Kandi Wieberg was able to score on a sacrifice fly on a ball caught by the second baseman, then Emily Tucker followed with an RBI single to bring in Rachel Wilkinson.

West Alabama scored in the bottom half of the inning, but Becca Kueny belted a leadoff homer in the second to put S&T up 3-1. The Lady Miners got two more runs in the third on RBI hits by Becky Davis and Melissa Ruth.

After the Tigers closed the margin to three after five innings, the Lady Miners got an unearned run in the sixth after a two-out error extended the inning for Tucker to drive in Wilkinson. Kueny then belted her second home run of the game in the seventh for the final margin.

Jen O'Hara got the win for the Lady Miners to improve to 6-0 on the season. Wilkinson had three of S&T's 12 hits, while Tucker and Kueny had two each.

In the nightcap, S&T was held scoreless until the sixth inning when Coley Naughton singled in Kristen Drage. West Alabama scored a run in the fourth, two in the fifth and one in the seventh off starter Ashley Wallingford.

Wieberg and Musselman had two hits apiece for S&T, which finished the day with a record of 13-10.

Posted by John Kean at 10:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Lady Miner softball team had limited offensive production Saturday against the defending national champions, but did make the most of one hit to get a split of the doubleheader with Southern Illinois Edwardsville at the S&T Softball Field.

Kelsey Musselman's three-run homer in the bottom of the sixth broke a scoreless tie in the opener and helped Missouri S&T take a 3-1 decision in the first game, while 13th-ranked SIUE took the nightcap 4-0.

The Lady Miners and Cougars were locked in a scoreless game with just five hits between them through the first five innings of game one. SIUE got runners to second and third with two outs in the sixth, but S&T pitcher Jen O'Hara induced a ground out off the bat of Lindsay Longfellow to keep the game even.

With one out in the bottom of the inning, Kassi Deibert singled past third baseman Lauren Zembruski for S&T's first hit since the first inning. Kandi Wieberg followed by drawing a walk, then the runners moved up on a ground out by Rachel Wilkinson.

The Cougars elected to pitch to Musselman with first base open and the senior third baseman belted a pitch from SIUE All-America pitcher Kaitlin Colosimo over the gate in left center to put the Lady Miners in front 3-0.

The Lady Miners had to get through a jam in the top of the seventh to lock up the win. After Mallory Ruggles hit a leadoff homer to get the Cougars on the board, Christina Signore reached with an infield hit. O'Hara got the next two hitters, then walked Zembruski on a 3-2 pitch to put the tying run on base.

However, Ashley Price was called out on strikes to end the game and give S&T its fifth win in GLVC play.

The second game took a similar pattern to the first game for the first four innings, then the Cougars broke the ice in the fifth when Zembruski blooped a two-out single to center to score Longfellow, who had doubled to open the frame.

SIUE broke the game open in the sixth by scoring three times, a rally aided by an error, to hand starter Erika Taylor a four-run lead.

Taylor held the Lady Miners hitless until two were out in the sixth, when Musselman singled through the hole between third and short. Emily Tucker followed with a hit, but Taylor got one of her 13 strikeouts to escape S&T's best scoring chance.

The Lady Miners (12-9, 5-1 GLVC) are scheduled to make a road trip to Michigan, Ohio and Kentucky during the spring break, starting with a doubleheader Tuesday at Grand Valley State.

Posted by John Kean at 07:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Kelsey Musselman

The Lady Miners staged a late inning rally Friday afternoon to complete a sweep of their Great Lakes Valley Conference doubleheader over Quincy University at the S&T Softball Field, taking the games by scores of 3-2 in eight innings and 8-4.

S&T was held to three hits in the first game by Quincy's Torie Bunzell, but all three hits drove in runs and the last was a walk-off home run by Kelsey Musselman in the eighth. Musselman hit her ninth home run of the season on a 1-0 pitch as she lofted a fly ball to left that Hawk leftfielder Emly Clark went over the fence and got a glove on it, but couldn't keep it in the park as she crashed into the barrier.

The Lady Miners took the lead initially in the first inning when Emily Tucker doubled off the fence to bring home Kandi Wieberg, then after the Hawks tied it in the third, regained the lead in the bottom half when Musselman singled off Bunzell's leg to score Becky Davis.

Quincy tied the game in the sixth when Clark hit a squibber to second and beat the throw to allow Megan Corey to score with two outs. Lady Miner starter Jen O'Hara got the Lady Miners out of the inning by fanning Mary Wiedman.

In her complete game effort, O'Hara scattered 11 hits and struck out three.

Quincy took the early lead in the second game on an RBI single by Jasmyn Wentland in the first, then the Lady Miners tied the score in the bottom half of the inning when Rachel Wilkinson belted a home run to left. However, Korby Paul delivered a two-run single in the third and Missy Weaver homered with two outs in the fifth to put the Hawks up 4-1.

S&T finally solved Bunzell, who got the start in game two as well, in the bottom half of the fifth to get the game knotted up. Wieberg bunted her way on with one out and Wilkinson walked, then Musselman singled into left center to bring in Wieberg. With the runners on second and third after advancing on the throw, Tucker hit a sinking liner that fell by a diving Clark to allow both runners to score and tie the contest at four.

The Lady Miners then won the game in the sixth, which started with a leadoff walk to Melissa Ruth. Paul replaced Bunzell in the circle, but struggled with her control as after a sacrifice bunt by Davis was successful, a pair of wild pitches allowed Ruth to score.

S&T wasn't done after getting the lead, as Wieberg walked, advanced on a wild pitch and scored on a hit by Wilkinson to give it a 6-4 lead. After Musselman was hit by a pitch, Tucker doubled into the gap to bring in the third run of the inning and another wild pitch moments later scored Musselman.

O'Hara got the win in relief as she threw 2 1/3 hitless innings with a strikeout. Tucker had three hits -- all doubles -- and three runs batted in to pace the offensive attack.

The Lady Miners improved to 11-8 overall and 4-0 in the GLVC with defending NCAA Division II champion Southern Illinois Edwardsville paying a visit to the S&T Softball Field Saturday afternoon. The twinbill between the Lady Miners and Cougars (18-6, 0-2 GLVC) will get underway at noon.

Posted by John Kean at 07:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- The Lady Miner basketball team wasn't the only Missouri S&T team to leave a playing venue in this city happy on Friday.

While the basketball squad was winning its NCAA regional game over Michigan Tech, the Lady Miner softball team opened Great Lakes Valley Conference play by sweeping a doubleheader over Drury at Meador Park.

Missouri S&T banged out 15 hits, including five extra base tallies, to win 14-9 in the opener, then rallied from a four-run deficit in the nightcap to complete the sweep with a 5-4 win.

In the first game, S&T jumped out to an 8-0 lead after an inning and half, but saw Drury draw closer with a run in the second, two in the third and five in fifth that brought the Panthers within one at 9-8. However, Jen O'Hara halted the rally and the Lady Miners put the game away with a five-run seventh inning.

Kandi Wieberg had five hits in five at-bats for S&T in the contest and scored four times, while Emily Tucker, Coley Naughton and Becca Kueny all had two hits apiece. Kelsey Musselman homered in the game as well as she connected on her eighth homer of the season; she drove in three runs as did Naughton.

Drury jumped on O'Hara in game two for four runs in the first two innings to grab a 4-0 advantage. However, the Lady Miners got two runs back in the fourth, then scored three times in the sixth to take the lead.

Musselman and Kristen Drage had two hits each in game two, while Wieberg drove in two runs.

Saturday's scheduled doubleheader at Rockhurst was postponed due to the threat of rainy weather in Kansas City on Saturday. The Lady Miners' next scheduled game is their home opener next Friday against Quincy at noon.

Posted by John Kean at 02:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

BOLIVAR, Mo. -- The Missouri S&T softball team rallied three times from defiicits Wednesday in the second game of a doubleheader at Southwest Baptist, then won the game in extra innings to gain a split of the twinbill.

S&T scored three times in the eighth inning to take a 7-4 victory in the nightcap after the Bearcats won the opener 7-1.

SBU touched S&T starter Jen O'Hara for a pair of runs in the third inning, but the Lady Miners evened the score when they came back to the plate. Rachel Wilkinson reached on an error with one out and Kelsey Musselman belted her seventh home run of the season to tie the contest.

After the Bearcats scored an unearned run in the bottom of the fourth to retake the lead, the Lady Miners took advantage of some sloppy play by SBU to draw even again.

Coley Naughton singled to open the inning, then went to second on a sacrifice bunt and to third on a passed ball. Moments later, she scored after a hit by Krista Porterfield.

The Bearcats grabbed the advantage once again in the bottom of the sixth, only to see S&T answer once again to tie the game. Naughton led off with a hit, then after she was forced out at second, Katie Smith singled. Melissa Ruth followed Smith's hit with another to load the bases, then Kandi Wieberg delivered a game-tying single.

In the eighth, Musselman reached on an error to start the frame and open the floodgates. Emily Tucker singled, then another error loaded the bases. A passed ball followed to give S&T its first lead of the afternoon, then Becky Davis singled home two more runs to give O'Hara some breathing room.

The junior pitcher went the distance and struck out nine while allowiing eight hits. The Lady Miners had 10 hits in the second game with Naughton getting two of them.

In the opener, SBU scored single runs in each of the first two innings and three in the third off starter Ashley Wallingford, then tacked on two more in the fifth after the Lady Miners got on the board in the top half of the frame.

Wieberg's leadoff homer in the fifth turned out to be the only run S&T would get in the opener. Melissa Ruth had two of S&T's four hits in the contest.

The Lady MIners (7-8) are scheduled to open Great Lakes Valley Conference play Friday with a noon doubleheader at Drury in Springfield, Mo.

Posted by John Kean at 09:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Kelsey Musselman

Kelsey Musselman's big afternoon at the plate Sunday has earned her the Great Lakes Valley Conference "Player of the Week" award for the second time in the 2008 season.

Musselman was eight-of-11 in Missouri S&T's three games Sunday in the Pittsburg State Classic, with five runs scored and six runs batted in as the Lady Miners won two of the three contests over teams from the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association.

The senior third baseman started her day by going two-for-three with a double and two RBI in S&T's 13-5 loss to Truman State. The Lady Miners bounced back to win the next two games, starting with an 11-2 rout of Pittsburg State in which Musselman was four-of-four with a double, a home run and three runs batted in while scoring three times.

She wrapped up her day by getting two more hits in four at-bats in S&T's 6-3 win over Washburn.

For the season, Musselman leads the Lady Miners with a .513 batting average, six home runs and 16 runs batted in. Missouri S&T returns to action Thursday when it opens a six-game road trip at Southwest Baptist.

Posted by John Kean at 09:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

PITTSBURG, Kan. -- After getting knocked off by Truman State in its first of three games on the day, the Missouri S&T softball team bounced back in a big way by winning their next two games in the Pittsburg State Classic Sunday, hitting four home runs in an 11-2 win over Pittsburg State and wrapping up the day with a 6-3 win over Washburn.

The Lady Miners lost 13-5 to Truman State in the first game of the day.

S&T jumped out to a 2-0 lead on Pitt State in the first on an RBI double by Kelsey Musselman and an error that scored another run. The Lady Miners added to that lead in the third when Kandi Wieberg hit a leadoff homer and Emily Tucker later added a two-run blast.

Musselman belted her sixth home run of the season, a two-run shot in the fifth, to make it 7-0 for the Lady Miners. After PSU scored twice in the sixth to cut into the S&T lead, the Lady Miners tacked on four more runs in the seventh, highlighted by a three-run homer by Becca Kueny.

Ashley Wallingford went the distance for the Lady Miners and scattered six hits to improve to 4-3. The sophoimore hurler walked just one and struck out four.

Musselman finished the game with four hits in four at-bats and drove in three runs; she had five RBI in the first two games. S&T also got two hits apiece from Wieberg, Tucker and Coley Naughton.

Rachel Wilkinson had four hits and Kandi Wieberg three, including a home run, in the victory over Washburn. Starting pitcher Kristen Drage got the win for the Lady Miners, who improved to 6-7 after Sunday's play.

In the first game, the Lady Miners got on top with two runs in the second on a run-scoring ground out by Naughton and an error that allowed the second run to come home. However, Truman State scored three in the top of the third to take the lead, only to see S&T tie in the bottom half on an RBI hit by Musselman.

The Bulldogs busted the game open with a three-run fourth and a four-run fifth off S&T pitchers Drage and Jen O'Hara, who was making her first pitching appearance of the season after missing the first two weeks with an injury.

S&T did score twice in the fifth as Musselman and Melissa Ruth drove in runs, but the Bulldogs put a three-spot up in the sixth as well to pull away.

Musselman and Ruth each had two hits as the Lady MIners finished with eight.

Posted by John Kean at 05:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

MONTICELLO, Ark. -- The Missouri S&T softball dropped the final two games at the Arkansas-Monticello Classic Saturday, losing 5-3 to the host school and then being held down by Arkansas Tech's Casey Hammons for the second day in a row in a 2-0 loss to close the weekend.

Hammons, who shut out S&T on three hits Saturday, thew a two-hit shutout Sunday at the Lady Miners. The only S&T hits came from Kelsey Musselman and Krista Porterfield. Ashley Wallingford took the loss in the circle.

In the earlier game, Arkansas-Monticello jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the opening inning and added a fourth run in the second before the Lady Miners got on a board in the third on Kandi Wieberg's RBI single.

UAM extended its lead with a run in the fifth, then the Lady Miners got that run back in the sixth when Melissa Ruth delivered an RBI single to score Musselman. However, S&T stranded two runners in the inning.

S&T got another rally going in the seventh as Becky Davis' leadoff double was followed by hits by Katie Smith and Kassi Deibert, the latter bringing in a run. But after getting the tying runs on base, a pair of lineouts and a strikeout ended the comeback effort.

The Lady Miners had nine hits in the game with Musselman and Davis getting two apiece.

S&T (4-6) returns to action Thursday when it plays Missouri Southern in a doubleheader in Joplin prior to taking part in a weekend classic at MSSU.

Posted by John Kean at 04:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)