Box Score 1 | Box Score 2
(JEFFERSON CITY, Mo.) – Jennies softball (24-27, 9-11 MIAA) split with the Lincoln Blue Tigers (13-34, 4-14 MIAA) in their final MIAA doubleheader of the season Friday afternoon in Jefferson City, falling in game one, 3-1, and winning game two, 12-3.
            The Jennies allowed two Lincoln runs in the bottom of the first inning and then another in the bottom of the second and could only come up with one run of their own in the first game of the day, falling to the Blue Tigers, 3-1. The Jennies lone run came in the top of the sixth inning when Jaydee Young hit her team-high seventh home run of the season. 
            In the nightcap, the Jennies and Blue Tigers battled to a defensive stalemate until the top of the sixth inning, when the Jennies offense exploded, producing 12-runs in the inning to open up a commanding 12-0 lead.
Jakki Prater started off the scoring frenzy after she blasted a homer to deep left-center, scoring three runs.   Brittany Martin then singled to third base followed by a fielding error on the Blue Tigers, driving in another three runs, making it 6-0 Central Missouri. Alex Groeger then stepped to the plate and delivered another single, this time straight up the middle of the field, driving in another run. The Jens picked up their eighth run of the inning when Lincoln walked Jaydee Young with the bases loaded. That brought Prater back up to bat for the second time in the inning. The freshman from Nixa, Missouri took full advantage of her second at-bat, delivering a grand slam to left field, giving the Jennies the 12-0 advantage. The grand slam by Prater is the first for Jennies' softball since last season, when Katie Groves delivered one at Northwest Missouri State. The couple of home runs were Prater's fourth and fifth of the season.
Jennies' right-hander Lacey Dixon pitched three-innings in relief, striking out one batter and allowing no earned-runs to improve her record in the circle to 7-8 overall.
With the win, Central Missouri clinches a spot in the 2012 MIAA Postseason Softball Tournament starting next Thursday at the Blue Valley Sports Complex in Overland Park, Kansas. Seeding and the tournament bracket are slated to be announced Sunday evening.
The Jennies will close out the regular season Saturday afternoon with a 1 p.m. non-conference doubleheader at future MIAA foe Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Missouri.