The Drury Softball Panthers opened the 2016 season with a non-conference split vs. Christian Brothers winning the nightcap 6-4 after falling 11-5 in the opener Sunday at Thompson Field.

Drury is now 1-1 on the season and Christian Brothers is now 3-3.

An RBI single by Kaelie Smith who later stole home in the first to put DU on top 2-0.  Rachael Michaelis capped off a three run three hit opening inning with an RBI double to plate Miki Andrus.  Hannah Oliver would pull the Bucs to within a run with an RBI single in the second and a solo homer in the fourth to cut the Panther lead to 3-2.

Freshman Emily Stringer singled to left in the Panther fourth to give DU some room and make it a 4-2 lead and a Christian Brothers error allowed two more runs to cross for a 6-2 DU lead after four.

Christian Brothers scored on an RBI sac in the fifth and an RBI groundout in the seventh for their final runs of the contest.

Andrus (1-0) earned the victory for DU with the Bucs Sierra Anderson (0-1) receiving the loss. Drury finished with five hits and Christian Brothers had seven.

Christian Brothers scored on an error in the opening inning to get on the board first before Drury took a 2-1 lead with an RBI single up the middle by Chantal Oelrich and a steal of home by Smith in the Panther half of the first.  Andrus went yard in the Panther third to stretch the DU lead to 3-1.

The Bucs used an RBI double, an RBI single and an error in the top of fourth for a 5-3 lead.  Smith came through for DU in the fourth with an RBI single to cut the Christian Brothers lead to 5-4.  The Panthers stole home for the second time on the day with Karlie Peck tying the game to finish the fourth.

The Bucs would not go away as they rallied to score a pair of runs on two hits and two errors in the top of the fifth to go back on top 7-5.  Christian Brothers added four runs in the seventh for a 11-5 final.

Peck paced the Panthers offensively with three hits and two runs in a 10 hit DU effort.  The Bucs had a 16 hit game led by Holly Oyenheart and Amber Johnson who each had three hits.

Shelby Weissenbach (0-1) received the loss and earning the win for the Bucs was Jenna Cotter (3-1).

Up next for the Drury Softball Panthers will be the Arkansas-Monticello Classic in Bentonville, Arkansas set for February 12-14.  The Panthers will open tournament play vs. Pittsburg State at 1 p.m. on the 12^th.