Softball wins tourney

By Catherine Crane

Published Feb. 27, 2007

The MU softball team won the Clarion Inn Lady'Back Invitational Title, in Fayetteville, Ark., finishing the weekend with a 6-0 record.

The Tigers won the title by beating Wichita State 10-7 in the championship game Sunday.

Freshman Jana Hainey started the game, but freshman Alaina Jacobson earned the win by pitching 2.1 innings.

Senior Leanne Bowers led off for the Tigers, going 3-for-3 on the day with two runs scored, and junior Micaela Minner was 2-for-3 with three RBIs.

Megan Dennis started the first game of the tournament against UMKC, with the Tigers beating the Kangaroos 7-1.

Bowers was 1-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored. In the No. 2 spot, sophomore Andee Allen was 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored, and Minner, batting third, drove in two runs.

Junior Amanda Renth's three-run homerun helped fuel the Tigers past Colorado State, 8-1, in the second game. Junior Jen Bruck picked up the win, pitching six innings and giving up four hits. The Tigers combined for 10 hits in the game, with Allen leading the pack, going 3-for-4 with two RBIs and a run scored.

MU was able to come from behind and take a win from Arkansas in pool play. Renth hit another home run in the first to put MU up 2-0. Hainey started the game, pitching 3.1 innings, but Dennis collected her second win of the tournament, turning out 1.2 innings.

MU beat Wichita State 8-2 in its final pool game, earning the top seed in the tournament. Bruck helped her pitching efforts by hitting two home runs, collecting the win. The Tigers only had four hits, but it was enough to score eight runs, as the team collected seven walks.

A 12-11 win against Arkansas qualified MU for the tournament championship game. It was a battle back and forth all day, but the Tigers finally pulled out the win with senior Alli Kennewell's walk-off two run single in the seventh. Hainey pitched the final two innings of the game, earning her the win.