The Wayne State softball team split two games in action Friday at the Hy-Vee Classic Softball Tournament in St. Joseph, Mo.
In the first game, Central Missouri snapped a 1-1 with eight unanswered runs as the Jennies pulled away for a 9-1 win in six innings.
The Jennies took an early 1-0 in the first before the Wildcats answered with a run in the bottom of the third. Alyssa Schropp doubled and scored when Melanie Alyea reached on a Central Missouri error to tie the game at 1-1.
Central Missouri scored three in the fifth and put the game out of reach with five runs on four hits and two Wayne State errors to end the game in the sixth inning on the eight-run rule.
Schropp finished 2-for-3 with a double and a run scored to lead Wayne State’s five-hit attack. Jordyn Breitbarth doubled while Monique Alyea and Melanie Alyea each singled. Nataliah Hopkins took the loss, allowing four runs on six hits with three strikeouts and a walk in five innings. Riley Vanderveen worked the final inning in relief.
The Wildcats bounced back in the second game of the day, hanging on for a 6-5 win over Northwest Missouri State.
Wayne State scored three in the second inning thanks to a two-out rally. Jordyn Breitbarth walked and Jenna Stewart singled, and Katelyn Wobken brought them home with a three-run homer to left to give Wayne State the early 3-0 lead.
Northwest Missouri State scored a run in the bottom of the second and two in the third to tie the game, but Wayne State got the lead back with two in the fourth, as Breitbarth doubled and scored on a Schropp groundout while Wobken walked and scored on a Melanie Alyea single.
Northwest got a run in the fifth, but Wayne State got a key insurance run in the top of the sixth as Breitbarth walked and scored on a Schropp single. Northwest scored a run in the bottom of the seventh and had the tying and winning runs in scoring position, but Wayne State got out of the jam to hang on for the win.
Wayne State was outhit 15-8 in the win. Wobken was the lone Wildcat with more than one hit, going 2-for-3 with a homer and three RBI. Breitbarth doubled, walked twice and scored three times. Schropp had a single and two RBI while Abbie Hix, Jenna Stewart, Melanie Alyea and Rachel Shumaker each had hits. Hopkins was the winning pitcher, with Vanderveen getting the save.
Wayne State, 5-15, will play two more games on Saturday, faciing Missouri Southern at 12 p.m. and ninth-ranked Central Oklahoma at 4 p.m.
