Box Score 1 | Box Score 2
(MARYVILLE, Mo.) – Jennies softball (19-24, 4-10 MIAA) swept a doubleheader with Northwest Missouri State Monday afternoon in Maryville, Mo, winning game one 6-4 and game two 11-8, in eight innings.
            In the first game, the Jennies defeated the Bearcats 6-4, scoring three runs in the top of the seventh inning to take the come-from-behind victory.
            The Jennies began the game with two runs in the top of the first, taking the early 2-0 lead over the Bearcats. Jaydee Young (Peculiar, Mo.) provided the two runs for the Jens when she hit her team-high fifth homerun of the season to left field, scoring Braylyn Bivens (Kansas City, Mo.).
            Central Missouri added another run in the top of the second on a single to left field by Bivens, driving in pinch-runner Katie Groves (Bluffdale, Utah), making it 3-0 Jennies.
            The Bearcats answered back in the bottom of the third though with four runs to take the 4-3 lead thanks to a solo homerun by Jordan Ereth, sacrifice fly-ball from Kristen Uthe and a two-run homerun from Hailee Hendricks.  
            The Jennies answered in the top of the seventh with three runs to regain the lead, 6-4, when Brittany Martin (Warrensburg, Mo.) led off the inning with a triple to right field. Bivens then hit a fielder's choice, allowing pinch-runner Medora West (St. Louis, Mo.) to cross home plate and bring the Jennies within one run of the Bearcats' lead. Nicole Norberg (St. Louis, Mo.) tied the game at four when she hit a sacrifice fly to left field, scoring Bivens. Alex Groeger (Fort Collins, Colo.) then stepped to the plate and delivered the eventual game-winning hit on a fielder's choice, driving in Young.
            Jennies starting pitcher Sarah Espy (Olathe, Kan.) pitched a complete game, allowing only one earned run, striking out five, improving her overall record to 7-7 overall. Espy also was 1-3 in the contest with a single in the top of the second inning. Jennies' right fielder Jaydee Young was 2-3 to go along with her fifth homerun of the season in game one.
            The Jennies completed another come-from-behind win in the second game of the doubleheader, scoring three-runs in the top of the seventh-inning to tie the contest at eight then scored three-runs in the top of the eighth to take the 11-8 victory over Northwest Missouri State and complete a sweep of the MIAA doubleheader.
            The Jennies fell behind early when the Bearcats scored a run in the bottom of the first but answered in the top of the second with a run of their own on a single by Jordan Marble (Jefferson City, Mo.) to tie the contest up at 1-1. Marble would provide another crucial hit later in the game.
            The Jennies took the lead in the top of the third when Jakki Prater delivered a double to left field, scoring Braylyn Bivens and Karissa Williams (Wichita, Kan.) to take the 3-1 lead. The Bearcats countered in the bottom half of the inning though with two runs of their own to knot the contest back up, this time at 3-3.
            Again the Jennies responded, this time with a couple of runs in the top of the fifth on a single by Prater to right field, scoring Bivens, allowing the Jens to regain the lead, 4-3. Nicole Norberg (St. Louis, Mo.) gave the Jennies a 5-3 lead when she singled to left field, driving in Jaydee Young.
            Northwest Missouri State answered in the bottom of the sixth inning though, scoring five runs to take the 8-5 lead heading into the final inning.
            Faced with two-outs in the top of the seventh, the Jennies were down to their final out of the game with Marble at the plate. She delivered the game-tying double, a powerful blast to right field, knotting the game up, 8-8. Jennies pitcher Lacey Dixon (Gallatin, Mo.) pitched a stellar bottom half of the inning to send the contest into extras.
            The Jennies didn't take long in extra innings. Williams started off the inning with a single to shortstop and was able to advance to second on a wild pitch. Bivens then did the exact same thing, singling to shortstop and advancing to second on another Bearcat wild pitch. With runners on second and third and nobody out, Young stepped to the plate and delivered the eventual game-winning sacrifice fly-ball to center field, scoring Willams, putting Central Missouri up, 9-8. Praters then put an exclamation mark on the Jennies comeback win, blasting a two-run homerun left centerfield, scoring Bivens to make the score 11-8 heading into the bottom of the eighth. The round-tripper by Prater was her second this season. The Nixa, Missouri native was 4-5 in the second game to go along with her two-run homerun in the eighth.
            Dixon again delivered another outstanding performance in the circle in the bottom of the eighth, holding the Bearcats hitless to give the Jennies the 11-8 victory. Dixon pitched 2.2 innings in relief, striking out two, allowing no runs or hits, improving her record to 4-7 overall.
            The Jennies are back in action Wednesday when they travel to St. Louis to battle the Maryville University Saints in a non-conference doubleheader beginning at 3 p.m.