SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Drury and Augustana split the Panthers' home opener at Thompson Field on March 10. Drury won game one 4-2 before dropping game two 6-0.
 
GAME ONE – Drury 4, Augustana 2
The struggling Vikings struck first at the top of the first inning. After Desi Cuevas singled to left field, she stole second. On a single up the middle by Kierra Lubovich, Cuevas scored for the only run of the first inning.
 
Augustana threatened again in the second but left two runners stranded in scoring position.
 
Kaley Adzick led off the bottom of the third with the Panthers' first hit of the game. Advancing to second on a fielding error by the Vikings' center fielder, she was then replaced by pinch runner Mykala Dodds. Dodds advanced to third on a wild pitch. Following this, Kenna Trower reached first on an error, allowing Dodds to score Drury's first run. Although Trower advanced to third, she was left stranded.
 
The fourth inning was quiet with both teams facing the minimum.
 
Drury broke the game open in the bottom of the fifth. The first two batters for the Panthers both grounded out. With two outs, Kenna Trower would be hit by the pitch to keep the Drury inning alive. Reece Anderson would single to advance Trower to third. The lineup would roll over to Emma Niemczyk. The freshman would get an infield single to score Trower and advance Anderson to third. Following a Niemczyk steal, Drury's two-out rally would score the Panthers third and fourth runs on a single from Isabel Ervin. The inning ended on a Drury strikeout.
 
Down to the Vikings' final three outs of the game, Augustana would push one run across off a single and a double, but Jordyn Foley was able to shut the Vikings down from there, giving Drury the 4-2 win.
 
GAME ONE NOTES

• The Panthers had four hits, one from each of Emma Niemczyk, Isabel Ervin, Kaley Adzick, and Reece Anderson.
• Ervin led Drury with two RBIs. Niemczyk and Kenna Trower each had one RBI.
• Augustana had seven hits in the loss, two from each of Andrea Cain and Desi Cuevas.
• Jordyn Foley threw her third complete game of the season. Foley improved to 3-3 after allowing two runs and striking out three.
• Jaelyn Garcia pitched for Augustana. She allowed four runs, only one earned, in six innings pitched.
• Drury was 2-for-6 with runners in scoring position, compared to Augustana's 1-for-5.
• With no runners on, the Panthers were 1-for-15. The Vikings hit 5-for-17 without a runner on base.
• The loss for Augustana was their sixth straight loss.
• Drury is now 2-1 under Brooke Gajewski in their first home game of the season.

 
GAME TWO – Augustana 6, Drury 0
Augustana opened the scoring in the second inning. A double followed by a single scored the game's first run with only one out. The Vikings added their second run after a double to take an early lead.
 
Claire Nelson led off the bottom of the second inning with a walk, but the Panthers were only able to do anything with the lead-off runner on.
 
Drury's first hit of the game came in the fourth inning on an Isabel Ervin single to right field. Similar to the second inning, the Panthers were unable to advance their offense with an early runner on and ended on their second double play of the game.
 
In the sixth inning, Augustana took control of the game behind two Drury errors. The Vikings scored four runs in the inning, all unearned.
 
Trailing 6-0, the Panthers went down in order for the final two innings to drop game two of the doubleheader.
 
GAME TWO NOTES

• Drury only had three hits in the game; Isabel Ervin, Claire Nelson, and Gabrielle Bax were responsible for those hits.
• The Vikings had eight hits in the second game, three from Andrea Cain.
• Natalie Wilks started in the circle for the Panthers. She was only able to go two innings, allowing two runs and two doubles. She was the pitcher of record for Drury.
• Kaley Adzick relived Wilks. She threw the final five innings. Four runs scored on Adzick, none were earned.
• Helene Krage was the winning pitcher for Augustana in her complete game. She struck four out in 23 batters' faces.
• Drury only had one opportunity to hit with a runner in scoring position; they were 0-for-1.

 
UP NEXT
The Panthers' GLVC season opens in Springfield on Saturday against Missouri S&T at noon.
 
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