EAST PEORIA, Ill. | EastSide Centre - Fourth-seeded McKendree University softball (33-21, 16-10 GLVC) dropped its first round game of the 2024 Great Lakes Valley Conference Championship against fifth-seeded Missouri-St. Louis, 6-4, after rallying to send the contest to extra innings. The rally was led by sophomore infielder
Lauren Harris who had a two-home run outing, a solo shot and a two-run bomb to tie the game at 3-3 in the bottom of the seventh. McKendree will be back in action on Friday morning for its next game, an elimination contest against eighth-seeded Maryville, with a time yet to-be-announced.
McKendree looked to expand upon its postseason efforts from 2023 this spring, taking on the squad that put it out in 2024. UMSL went up early with a pair of runs in the second, hoding a 2-0 lead against the Bearcats. Prior to the first McKendree run of the day, the Bearcats held multiple opportunities to score with three hits with five left on base.
In the sixth, the offense opened behind, Harris, the reigning back-to-back GLVC Player of the Year, who connected and blasted a ball out of left center. McKendree trailed 2-1 after the sixth. Missouri-St. Louis then found another run in the top of the seventh, owning a 3-1 lead. The bottom of the seventh had senior infielder
Reagan Cheely earn a walk before Harris stepped to home plate. Harris then added her second homer of the contest, scoring Cheely in the process and tying the game at 3-3. The Bearcats and Tritons went to extra innings as a result.
The top of the ninth saw UMSL score three runs, holding the 6-3 advantage as McKendree's battery went back to the plate. The Bearcats got two on base with junior utility
Heaven Lawrence getting hit by a pitch before a double by Harris put both herself and Lawrence in scoring position. A groundout by graduate infielder
Olivia Stansbury scored Lawrence to cut the deficit to just a pair of runs. McKendree was unable to add any further scores, dropping the game in nine innings, 6-4.
Lauren Harris went 3-5 on the day with three RBIs and two runs while senior pitcher
Ellie Quaethem tossed the complete game with nine strikeouts and just three earned runs.
UP NEXT | GLVC Championship - Game 5 | Elimination Game
May 3 | 11AM vs. #8 Seed Maryville | EastSide Centre - East Peoria, Illinois
Championship Central
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