May 7, 2010

ESU, UNO to Meet in Softball Championship Game

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – Top seed Emporia State and No. 2 seed Nebraska-Omaha played a thriller Friday afternoon in Game 12 of the 2010 MIAA Softball Championship, and they will meet again at least once Saturday in the tournament championship.

Emporia State, powered by two home runs in the top of the seventh, defeated Nebraska-Omaha 4-2 to advance to the championship game with a perfect 3-0 tournament record. Omaha faced Fort Hays State in the final elimination game Friday evening and won, 8-3, to earn a rematch with ESU in Saturday's title game.

Saturday's championship is set to begin at Noon CT at the Blue Valley Sports Complex. If Emporia State wins, the Hornets are the 2010 MIAA Tournament Champions. If Nebraska-Omaha wins, the two teams will meet again at approximately 2 p.m. in a winner-take-all matchup.

Following are the recaps from Friday's MIAA softball action.

Game 9: (5) Fort Hays State 8, (6) Northwest Missouri 4
Fort Hays State overcame a 4-1 deficit to defeat Northwest Missouri and eliminate the Bearcats from the tournament. Three Fort Hays State errors led to four unearned runs as the Bearcats built their lead in the first three innings.

Malinee Powell's 4-for-4 effort aided the Tigers' rally. She hit a solo home run in the bottom of the third to make it 4-2, had an RBI single in the fourth to tie the game at 4-4 and completed the Tigers' scoring with a two-run homer in the sixth.

Game 10: (4) Central Missouri 7, (3) Missouri Western 6
Central Missouri used a pair of two-run home runs, in the fifth and sixth innings, to score the game's final four runs and eliminate Missouri Western.

Krista Cummings hit a two-run shot in the top of the fifth to cut Missouri Western's lead to 6-5, and Jessica Marble hit what proved to be the game-winner with a two-run blast in the top of the sixth.

Game 11: (5) Fort Hays State 3, (4) Central Missouri 2
Maddie Holub hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh to lift Fort Hays State to the victory over Central Missouri, ending the Jennies' tournament run.

Central struck first in the opening frame, only to see Fort Hays tie it up at 1 in the fourth. Central went back up by one in the fifth inning and took the lead into the seventh inning, where Holub hit the game-winning shot.

Game 12: (1) Emporia State 4, (2) Nebraska-Omaha 2
Abby Hughes hit a game-tying homer, and Amanda Self delivered the game-winning two-run homer in the top of the seventh to give No. 17 Emporia State a 4-2 win over No. 16 Nebraska-Omaha and earn the Hornets a spot in the MIAA Tournament Championship game for the eighth straight year.

UNO took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the sixth when Julia Krejci singled and went to second on Kristi Meneely's sac bunt. With one out in the top of the seventh, Hughes sent the first pitch she saw from MIAA Pitcher of the Year Beth Haley over the fence in left field to tie the score. After MIAA Player of the Year Miranda Campbell lined a single to left, Self followed with a homer to right center to give ESU the lead for good.

Game 13: (2) Nebraska-Omaha 8, (5) Fort Hays State 3
Katelyn Hinton went 3-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs to lead Nebraska-Omaha past Fort Hays and into Saturday's championship game against Emporia State.

Nebraska-Omaha led 5-3 heading into the fifth inning, where the Mavericks scored three runs to put the game out of reach.