ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – Thanks to dominant pitching and a walk-off dinger, Griffon Softball swept Missouri Southern this Wednesday at the Spring Sports Complex to move into a tie for fourth place in the MIAA with just four games left in the regular season.

GAME 1
MWSU 3, MSSU 2

Despite trailing early, Missouri Western escaped with a 3-2 win on the back of yet another complete game by pitcher Sydney Rader – her 13th of the season. The Griffons ( 23-20, 13-9 MIAA) trailed 2-0 in the third when Chloe Armstrong sent Rachel Stewart home on a sacrifice fly to left field. Later in the inning with Natalee Weber at the plate, Lion third baseman Kristen Wade made a destructive, diving catch in foul territory against the fence to record the out, but Emma Hoffart's head's-up thinking to tag up from third to score tied the game at 2-2.

Hoffart's RBI fielder's choice to third in the fourth scored Taylor Hoelscher and the go-ahead run to put the Griffons up 3-2. The Lions (24-20, 12-10 MIAA) only recorded one more hit off of Rader (15-7) for the rest of the game. The sophomore struck out five batters while only giving up five hits and zero walks.

GAME 2 
MWSU 5, MSSU 4

What seemed to be a blown lead by MWSU was saved by a walk-off solo shot by Sydni Hawkins in the seventh, giving her Griffons the 5-4 victory while sending MSSU home with a sweeping defeat. Pitcher Natalie Kissinger threw five innings of scoreless softball before Missouri Southern scored two in the sixth to trim Missouri Western's lead to 4-2. With Rader going for her first save of the season in the seventh and the Griffons only up 4-3, Abby DeSanto destroyed a two-out solo bomb to left field, tying the game with the Griffons' top of the order coming up. 

Twp pitches thrown by MSSU's Lacy Bailey (11-9) was all Hawkins needed to hammer the Griffons home for their final home stand of 2022. 

Before Hawkins' late-game heroics, the Griffs built a 4-0 lead in the first two innings. Chloe Armstrong scored Hawkins on a double to right field early in the first before being brought home to score on a Bubba Hoelscher single to left. Later in the second, Stewart scorched a double to center field, scoring Hawkins and Kalyn Damgaard. 

Missouri Western's wins on Wednesday puts them in a two-way tie for fourth place in the MIAA with Nebraska-Kearney (23-21, 13-9 MIAA). The Lopers swept the Griffons way back when on March 15 in St. Joseph.

NEXT UP

Missouri Western stays in state to take on Lincoln University (12-31, 0-22 MIAA) this Friday at 1 and 3 p.m. in Jefferson City. The Blue Tigers are 7-10 at home and are riding a five-game losing streak. Four of those losses include doubleheader defeats vs. Nebraska-Kearney and Fort Hays State.