EMPORIA, Kan. - The Pittsburg State University softball team fell in the MIAA Championship quarterfinals against the Rogers State University Hillcats on Thursday (May 7) at the Trusler Sports Complex, 5-0.
For the No. 14 Gorillas (45-9) they will have to wait for the NCAA Division II Softball Selection Show on Monday (May 11) at 9:00 a.m. (CDT) to find out what seed they will be in the Central Region. On Wednesday (May 6) the Gorillas were the No. 2 seed in the region.
Rogers State (35-18) advances to the semifinal round of the MIAA Championship and will play either or No. 12 Central Oklahoma or Northeastern State on Friday (May 8) at 2:30 p.m.
Pittsburg State, had the first chance to score in the game in the first inning with a
Lexi Davis RBI double being removed after a runner left early to end the inning in a scoreless tie. The Gorillas would get runners on first and second in the third inning with two outs before Harley Culie (18-9) induced a strikeout to end the inning and keep it a scoreless tie.Â
PSU would have runners on first and second again in the fourth inning with one out before Culie got back-to-back Gorillas to strikeout to persevere the 0-0 tie.
Ava Laurent departed the circle after 5.0 shutout innings and three strikeouts for the Gorillas, with
Emma Crabb (15-4) dispatched in relief to start the sixth inning.Â
In the sixth, Rogers State had runners on first and third with one out before a reviewed runner left early challenge by PSU successfully gave the Gorillas a second out and removed a runner from scoring position. RSU would later score off a wild pitch to take a 1-0 lead.Â
Pittsburg State got a leadoff single from
Kadyn Trochim and a double from
Lexi Davis to put runners on second and third but couldn't score to tie it up or take a lead. In the seventh, Rogers State added four runs to make it 5-0. PSU got runners on first and second with one out before Culie's 10th strikeout of the game and a slow dribbler to first base ended the game.
Laurent got the no decision in the circle with five shutout innings of work.
Heather Arnett finished 3-of-4 as Trochim, Davis and
Trista Peterson accounted for the other hits for PSU.
Haili Igou, Davis and
Rachael Schlotter drew walks in the game to account for all nine base runners.