Gilmore's Big Day Not Enough, Racers Drop Two in Cedar Falls

Saturday, February 8

Cedar Falls, Iowa

8:00 A.M.

Murray State

2-1

South Dakota

2-1

South Dakota

Murray State

Photo by: Dan Hasko

Gilmore's Big Day Not Enough, Racers Drop Two in Cedar Falls

2/9/2020 12:34:00 AM | Softball

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Murray State softball played two on the second day of the Doc Halverson Classic on Saturday, starting with a morning contest against South Dakota before taking on Northern Iowa in the afternoon competition. The Racers, who began their season with two wins on the first day of tournament action, were unable to carry that momentum into Saturday – coming up short in both contests at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

South Dakota 9, Murray State 8 (10 Innings)
In a 10-inning thriller that lasted nearly three hours and featured a combined 38 players between the two teams, the Racers came up just short against the Coyotes of South Dakota.

Aleesia Sainz homered to left field to break open the scoring in the second, as the Coyotes jumped out to a 1-0 advantage - a lead that lasted into the fourth frame.

The home half of the fourth would see momentum shift dramatically, however, when the Racers began the inning with three-straight hits courtesy of Jensen Striegel, Lindsey Carroll, and Kristen Bialek. Carroll's double to left field scored Striegel, before a Sierra Gilmore sacrifice fly put the Racers in front 2-1. With one out and Bialek standing on third, Logan Braundmeier laid down a perfectly-executed bunt to plate Bialek as the Racers found themselves with a 3-1 lead through four complete.

An RBI-double from South Dakota's Jordyn Pender followed by a throwing error during the next at-bat drew the score level once more in the fifth as the game quickly became tied at 3-3 – a score that held through the next two frames to force extra innings in the first game of the day.

Utilizing the international tiebreaker that places a runner on second to begin the inning, the Coyotes posted five runs on five hits in the eighth to reclaim an 8-3 lead with the Racers down to their final three outs in the home half.

Despite trailing by five runs, the resilient Racers would answer the call, stringing together five runs on five hits of their own. Mashea Glover opened the inning with a base hit, but a good throw from left field caught Ellison Barrett at the plate trying to score from second for the first out of the inning. After Lexi Jones was hit by a pitch and a Jordan Childress ground out advanced the runners to second and third, the Racers still faced a five-run deficit – but now with only one out left to work with.

A Lindsey Carroll two-run double kept a glimmer of hope alive as the Coyote lead was trimmed to 8-5, while a pinch-hit single from Alie Kennedy put runners on first and second with Gilmore due up next.

Needing three runs to keep playing, the Junior from Williamsburg, Indiana delivered just that – a three-run blast to left center to knot the contest at 8-8 through eight innings of action.

Following a scoreless ninth from the Coyotes, the Racers bunted Lily Fischer to third in the home half after Fischer was placed on second to begin inning.

Unfortunately, with the winning run 60 feet away with just one out in the frame, Fischer was left stranded and the game would head to the 10^th.
South Dakota's Dylan Underwood singled to left to drive in the placed runner in the 10^th as the Coyotes clung to a one-run lead, and would turn around to retire Racer hitters 1-2-3 to escape with a 9-8 victory in ten innings.

Ten Racer batters recorded a hit in the contest, with Sierra Gilmore (1-3, HR, 4 RBI) and Lindsey Carroll (2-6, 3 RBI, 2B, 2 R) leading the way.

UNI 7, Murray State 2
Murray State would be the first team on the scoreboard in game two when Sierra Gilmore opened the third inning with a solo shot to left center to give the Racers a 1-0 lead. Riding the momentum from the leadoff round-tripper, Abby Shoulders doubled the margin when her sacrifice fly scored Logan Braundmeier from third after Braundmeier reached base with a single following the Gilmore home run.

The Panthers would respond in a big way, however, plating seven runs in the bottom of the fourth on seven hits that included a two-run home run from reigning Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year Sammey Bunch to make it 7-2 in favor of Northern Iowa.

The Racers would put a runner on base in the fifth and sixth, but could not string together another run as that 7-2 score line would become the final as UNI prevailed in the second meeting of the weekend between the two sides.

Gilmore's second home run of the day would be the only extra-base hit for the Racers in game two, while sophomore Lindsey Carroll reached base three times – going 1-2 with a pair of walks.

The Racers will close the weekend in Cedar Falls with a single game on Sunday, where they are set to meet the Bulldogs of Drake University – first pitch is set for 9:30 a.m.