PITTSBURG – The Pittsburg State University softball team made a strong debut in MIAA play Tuesday (Mar. 16) by sweeping a home doubleheader against Emporia State University at the PSU Softball Complex.

The Gorillas blanked the Lady Hornets, 5-0, in game one and broke open a 3-3 tie en route to a 6-3 victory in the night cap.

The bats came alive early in game one for the Gorillas. Kylee Bohle led off the game with a solo home run to left center. Two innings later, Paxtyn Hayes knocked a two-run shot into the trees in centerfield to extend Pitt State's lead to 3-0. Bella Konieczka tacked on a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth with a home run to left center to provide the game's final margin.

Kaylee Burns (2-4) allowed just a second-inning single to earn the complete game one-hit shutout. She walked one batter and registered five strikeouts in the contest.

Burns came up big again in game two. She entered the game with no outs in the top of the third inning and the Gorillas trailing 3-2 and quickly silenced the ESU bats. Burns limited the Lady Hornets to just one hit, again, over 5.0 innings of relief work to earn the victory.

Audrey Miller and Kami Zimmerman belted back-to-back homeruns in the bottom of the fifth inning to put the Gorillas in front. Hayes added an RBI double that scored Keelah Griffith in the three-run half inning.

The Gorillas are now idle until Saturday (Mar. 20) when they travel to Wichita, Kan., to battle Newman University. Pitt State was originally scheduled to host Southwest Baptist University in a non-conference twinbill Wednesday (Mar. 17), but those games were rescheduled to Mar. 31 thanks to an unfavorable weather forecast in the Pittsburg area tomorrow.