PITTSBURG - The Pittsburg State University softball team picked up another conference doubleheader sweep (5-4, 10-4) over the Northeastern State University RiverHawks on Friday (Apr. 17) at the Pittsburg State Softball Field.
Pittsburg State (41-2, 13-1 MIAA) notched its sixth 40+ win season in team history today, joining the 2024, 2017, 2004, 1995 and 1994 squads that accomplished the feat. In the process, Senior infielder
Heather Arnett extended her hitting streak to 45, the longest such streak regardless of NCAA Division in Softball history. Head coach
Josh Barnes also notched his 300th collegiate win in the 10-4 victory (79 at Pittsburg State, 89 at Crowder College, 81 at McCook Community College and 51 at Angelina College).
In game one, the Gorillas scored two runs off a checked swing single from
Sailor Hall in the first, Arnett and
Alleyna Rushing scored on the play for an early 2-0 advantage.
Kadyn Trochim collected her third home run of the season with a solo shot to make it 3-0. Northeastern State (26-19, 11-11 MIAA) responded in the fifth with a four run inning to take a 4-3 lead following a pair of home runs and a RBI single.
Lexi Davis in the bottom half of the fifth inning tied it up with a single through the left side to score Rushing and in the seventh inning, Davis recorded the walk-off hit with a single to left field that allowed Arnett to score.
Arnett, Rushing and Davis each recorded two hits in the game with Davis leading the team with two runs driven in and the duo at the top of the order scoring twice in the game.
Sailor Hall (8-0) picked up the win in the circle with 2.1 innings of shutout relief work, striking out three, as
Emma Crabb got the no decision after striking out three in 4.2 innings.
To end the day, Pitt State collected 13 hits, seven of which were for extra bases and drew five walks for a 10-4 win as the gusts to the south were increasing throughtout the game. NSU scored in the first inning before a four run response from Pittsburg State gave the hosts a 4-1 lead following two RBI hits from Davis and
Haili Igou. Peyton Watson for Northeastern State hit a solo home run to the trees in the center field in the second inning to cut the lead to two (4-2) before a Trochim RBI double to left center scored Arnett to make it 5-2. Davis hit a two run home run into the center field trees in the fourth to make it 7-2 before an Ashlynn Turner solo home run over the scoreboard in left field made it 7-3 in the fifth inning.
Graci Green as a pinch runner scored off a wild pitch in the bottom half of the fifth to make it a five run game once again (8-3) before a NSU sacrifice fly in the sixth made it an 8-4 game. Hall put the final touches on the game with a two run home run that whizzed past the scoreboard in left in the bottom of the sixth inning, providing the final score line of 10-4.
Trochim and Igou each finished with three hits as Davis led the team with four RBI on the game. Five members of the team collected multiple hits, four scored twice, as Davis, Hall and Igou finished with multiple runs driven in.
Lexi Franklin notched the complete game win for her 12th on the season, striking out six RiverHawks.
Up next for Pittsburg State will be the University of Central Missouri Jennies on Saturday (Apr. 18). First pitch from the Pittsburg State Softball Field is set for 1:00 p.m. (CDT) with game two of the conference doubleheader set to begin approximately 30 minutes after the last out in recorded in game one.
