(JEFFERSON CITY, Mo., May 2)— The McKendree University softball team defeated Missouri Baptist University, 5-0, on Sunday to advance to the final day of the American Midwest Conference tournament on Sunday.
The third-seeded Bearcats improved to 26-14 overall and will face No. 1 seed William Woods University Sunday at noon in an elimination game. The winner will face No. 2 seed Columbia College in the championship game at 2 p.m., followed by a game at 4 p.m. if needed.
After two scoreless innings, McKendree got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the third inning on a fielder's choice by junior third baseman Natalee Rujawitz (O'Fallon, Ill./O'Fallon HS) (O'Fallon, Ill./O'Fallon). Senior outfielder Amber Nikolauzyk (Mascoutah, Ill./Mascoutah HS) slid safe into home to give McKendree a 1-0 lead. Following a walk to freshman catcher Lindsay McGuire (Benton, Ill./Benton HS) (Benton, Ill./Benton) to load the bases, senior outfielder Kayla White (Buncombe, Ill./Vienna HS) (Buncombe, Ill./Vienna) scored on a groundout to the third baseman by sophomore Cathy Webb (Mascoutah, Ill./Mascoutah HS) (Mascoutah, Ill./Mascoutah) to make the score 2-0. Junior designated player Christine Juehne (Trenton, Ill./Wesclin HS) (Trenton, Ill./Wesclin) reached on a fielder's choice and Rujawitz slid under the tag of the Spartan catcher to give McKendree a 3-0 lead. Juehne stole second base, but a throwing error by the catcher would allow junior pinch runner Taylee Spicuzza (Dahlgren, Ill./Hamilton County HS) (Dahlgren, Ill./Hamilton County) to score and Juehne to advance to third. A single by sophomore shortstop Ashley Agee (Moberly, Mo./Moberly HS) (Moberly, Mo./Moberly) score Juehne to give McKendree a 5-0 lead after three innings.
Neither team would score through the remainder of the contest to give McKendree the win.
Senior pitcher Amy Quirin (Belleville, Ill./Belleville West HS) pitched the complete game shutout and improved to 11-7 with the win with four strikeouts. The shutout gives Quirin 16 for her career which is tied with Amy Maurer for second-place all-time at McKendree in the category.
At the plate, seven players had hits for the Bearcats with Rujawitz, Webb, Juehne and Agee all having an RBI. Nikolauzyk also had one double in the win.
-McK-
