Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 (ROLLA, Mo., April 17)- The McKendree University softball team fell short in both games of  a conference doubleheader at Missouri S&T, 4-3 and 9-6, on Friday.

The Bearcats fall to 14-28 overall and 6-18 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference, and will travel to Springfield, Mo., on Sunday, April 19 for a doubleheader at Drury University at 9 a.m.

McKendree scored three late runs in game one to tie the game, 3-3, but was unable to hold on in a 4-3 loss. The Bearcats faced a 3-0 deficit heading into the fourth inning, but score two runs in the inning to come within one. McKendree had two on and two out in the inning, before Dani Schoenbacher (Tamaroa, Ill./Pinckeyville) hit a double to left-center to score Kelsie Stoszkus (O'Fallon, Ill./O'Fallon Township) and Erica Johnson (New Baden, Ill./Wesclin). The Bearcats tied the game in the fifth inning on a throwing error that allowed Caty Ponce (Edwardsville, Ill./Edwardsville) to score from third. The Miners scored in the bottom of the fifth to take a 4-3 lead and held on in the final two innings to take game one. Stoszkus, Ashley Scheffler (Elgin, Ill./Burlington Central), and Katie Nauman (Amboy, Ill./Amboy) each had two hits in game one, while Taylor Barnouski (O'Fallon, Ill./O'Fallon Township) fell to 0-1 with one strikeout.

McKendree scored six runs on 10 hits in game two, but it wouldn't be enough in a 9-6 loss. The Bearcats scored three runs in their first at bat of game two. A single by Hanna Branch (Kirkwood, Mo./Kirkwood) scored Scheffler from third for the first run of the inning. Nauman followed with a single that brought in Ponce from third, and Stoszkus added another run with a single that brought in Branch for a 3-0 lead. The Miners answered with four runs in the bottom of the inning, but Ponce hit a solo homer in the second inning to tie the game 4-4. Missouri S&T regained the lead, 5-4, in the bottom of the second, and extended its lead to 8-4 after the third inning. A double by Schoenbacher scored Johnson and Stoszkus in the fifth inning cut the score to 8-6, but the Miners added a single run in the bottom of the fifth and held McKendree scoreless in its final two at bats to end game two 9-6. Ponce had two hits, including the home run, two runs scored and an RBI, while Holly Magre (Festus, Mo./St. Pius X) fell to 0-5 with the loss and had three strikeouts.