March 20, 2008
St. Joseph, MO – The University of Mary opened play at the Missouri Western Tournament with 4-3 win over the tourney host before dropping a 13-0 game to nationally-ranked Emporia State University.
The Marauders exploded for three runs in the fifth inning to rally from a 2-1 deficit. After Rosie Gonzales led off the inning with a walk and stole second, she moved to third on a single by Samantha Antolin, who then promptly stole second, too. Sara Naglosky walked to load the bases. After a ground ball forced Gonzales out at home, Dre Brunskill came through with a run-scoring single to tie the game at 2-2. After a lineout, Danelle Lunn ripped a two-run double and U-Mary was up 4-2.
Missouri Western started a rally in the seventh that forced a pitching change for the Marauders. Two doubles led to a run and Jessica Phelps replaced Brenda Langston. Phelps struck out the first batter she faced and retied the second batter on a tap out to the mound to record her second save of the season.
Antolin was a perfect 3-for-3 with a walk, an RBI and a run scored in the leadoff slot, replacing an injured Meghan Ward, the NSIC preseason Player of the Year. Brunskill went 2-for-3 with an RBI.
Game two was a tight contest through the first four innings. Neither team scored until 24th-ranked Emporia State pushed across a single run in the fourth, the only run ESU would need. The Hornets blew up for five runs in the fifth inning and seven more in the seventh. Emporia State totaled 16 hits, including four home runs, to five hits for U-Mary.
Leslie Benavidez and Brunskill were each 2-for-3 and Antolin had a double.
The Marauders are now 13-14 this season. U-Mary will face Central Missouri and Missouri Southern on day two of the Missouri Western Tournament on Friday, March 21.
