(FULTON, Mo., May 1)- No. 3 seed McKendree University was upset in the first round of the American Midwest Conference softball tournament Friday night by No. 6 seed Missouri Baptist University 3-0. The Bearcats will face No. 7 seed Hannibal-LaGrange College at 11 a.m. in Fulton, Mo. on the campus of William Woods University.

The game remained scoreless and both pitchers combined for 12 strikeouts in the first six innings. IN the top of the seventh inning, the Spartans led the inning off with a double by second baseman Julie Hathaway and would advance to third on a single by centerfielder Dana Schlemmer. Hathaway would score on an error by McKendree shortstop Amanda Snyder (Belleville, Ill./Mascoutah HS) (Mascoutah, Ill./Mascoutah) and would score two more runs on a double by third baseman Brittany Job to give Missouri Baptist a 3-0 lead.

In the bottom of the seventh, freshman second baseman Cassi Brown (Trenton, Ill./Wesclin HS) (Trenton, Ill./Wesclin) reached on a dropped third strike and junior rightfielder Taylee Spicuzza (Dahlgren, Ill./Hamilton County HS) (Dahlgren, Ill./Hamilton County) singled to put Brown in scoring position with no outs. The Bearcats comeback hopes fizzled following two groundouts and a popout to end the game.

Senior pitcher Amy Quirin (Belleville, Ill./Belleville West HS) (Belleville, Ill./Belleville West) fell to 9-7 on the season with the loss, despite striking out nine with no walks. Five McKendree players had hits, led by Brown's double in the fourth inning.

-McK-