EAST PEORIA, Ill. – Eighth-seeded Drury eliminated (4) Missouri-St. Louis and (2) Missouri S&T to advance to the final four of the GLVC Tournament on Thursday in East Peoria.
GAME ONE – (8) Drury 6, (4) Missouri-St. Louis 2
Facing elimination, Drury and Missouri-St. Louis' pitching was shut down in the first three innings, only allowing a combined four hits.
Into the fourth inning, Drury put two runners in scoring position with one out after an error, a walk, and a passed ball from the Tritons.
Kaley Adzick led down the squeeze bunt to score
Mykala Dodds and give Drury a 1-0 advantage. The offense did not stop at the bunt;
Haley Bryant scored from third on an error by the UMSL third baseman to extend the lead to two runs.
The Tritons responded to the two-run deficit with two of their own in the bottom of the fourth. Following a leadoff error, Kiley Sullivan homered to right-center to knot the game. UMSL loaded the bases later in the inning, but
Jordyn Foley worked out of it and ended the inning with a strikeout.
Drury regained control in the fifth inning with a three-spot. A leadoff single and back-to-back errors from UMSL put
Emma Niemczyk on third and
Kelsey Palmer on second. Both would score two pitches later off a
Claire Nelson double. Nelson was run for by
Jordan Meng. Meng stole third before being driven in by
Kaley Adzick to take a 5-2 Panther lead.
UMSL loaded the bases once more in the bottom of the fifth, but Foley and the Drury defense were able to avoid disaster and leave three stranded in the inning.
The Panthers added to their run total for the third straight inning in the sixth. After
Emma Niemczyk struck out but advanced to first on a passed ball, she stole second to bring up
Landry Cochran. She recorded an infield single that allowed Niemczyk to score from second and give Drury a 6-2 lead.
UMSL had two runners on base with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, but a groundout ended the game and the season for the Tritons, 6-2.
GAME ONE NOTES
- UMSL outhit Drury eight to seven.
- Emma Niemczyk was the only Panther with multiple hits, recording three. She also scored two runs.
- Kiley Sullivan had three hits, including a home run, to lead the Tritons.
- UMSL went through three pitchers. Kenzie Stoltz was the starter and losing pitcher. She allowed five runs, only one earned, while striking out six batters. Ashley Ware and Ashley Borowitz also pitched for the Tritons.
- Jordyn Foley threw another complete game in the win. Foley struck out four batters. Only one of the two runs that Foley scored was earned.
- Drury turned their 32nd double play of the season.
- Reece Anderson broke the Drury single-season assist record with five assists against UMSL. The previous record was set by Anderson last season with 160. After the UMSL game, she had recorded 164 assists.
- It was Drury's first win against UMSL this season.
GAME TWO – (8) Drury 11, (2) Missouri S&T 3 (6 inn.)
Coming directly off a loss, Missouri S&T wanted to get back into its offensive rhythm, and they did just that in the first inning. The Miners punched first with a Molly Fitzgerald single to score Taylor Nelson from second.
The S&T lead did not last long. In the bottom of the first,
Emma Niemczyk and
Landry Cochran went back-to-back singles to bring
Kelsey Palmer to the plate. Palmer followed suit with the third straight Drury single to score Niemczyk and tie the game at one.
The Miners loaded the bases with one out at the top of the third with Tori Thompson at the plate. Thompson singled to left field, but S&T was only able to score one run.
Jordyn Foley struck out the next two batters to avoid a larger deficit.
Similar to the first inning, Drury responded immediately to the S&T lead. The Panthers loaded the bases without an out for
Claire Nelson to record a sac fly and bring in Niemczyk. The inning continued with a sac bunt from
Haley Bryant to score Cochran, an RBI single from
Kaley Adzick, and an RBI single from
Isabel Ervin for Drury to take a 5-2 lead.
The Drury offense kept piling runs on S&T in the fourth. Niemczyk and Cochran got back-to-back hits again to bring Palmer to the plate. Palmer would drive in Niemczyk and Cochran off an RBI double to extend the Panther lead to 7-2.
Trailing 7-2, the Miners chipped away at the Drury lead in the top of the seventh on an inside-the-park home run from Claire Lopez.
The Panthers put the exclamation point on their offensive explosion with four runs on three hits in the bottom of the sixth inning to secure the run-rule victory, 11-3, over Missouri S&T.
GAME TWO NOTES
- Drury recorded 13 hits in the game compared to Missouri S&T's eight.
- Eight of the 13 hits came from the top three in the Drury lineup: Emma Niemczyk (3), Landry Cochran (3), and Kelsey Palmer (2).
- Kaley Adzick and Isabel Ervin each also recorded two hits.
- Palmer drove in a career high four RBIs.
- Landry Cochran's triple to lead off the sixth inning was her sixth of the season, now the second most in a season in program history. It was the eighth triple of her career, the fourth most in program history.
- With six hits combined between both games, Emma Niemczyk now has 54 hits this season. She is now four hits away from tying the single-season freshman hits record.
- Molly Fitzgerald was the lone Miner who had at least two hits.
- Jordyn Foley was the winning pitcher after her third complete game of the week. Foley struck out ten in the process of the win.
- With the win, Foley won her 15th game of the season. She is now tied for fifth for the most in a single season in program history. She is also fifth in career win total with 25.
- Mia Miller was the losing pitcher for the Miners. Miller allowed five runs, only two earned, and struck out two batters.
- Reece Anderson extended her single-season assist record to 167.
- Four of Drury's six lead-off hitters reached base in the win against S&T.
- Isabel Ervin hit the walk-off to secure the run-rule for Drury. It was Ervin's second walk-off of the season (Feb. 7 vs. St. Edward's) and the team's third of the season.
- Drury has now won two run-rule games this season.
- The win was Drury's first against Missouri S&T in the GLVC Tournament.
- With the win, Drury is the first eight-seed to be one of the final four teams in the tournament since Missouri S&T did it in 2018. In 2018, the Miners dropped to a three-seed Indianapolis 9-5 in the first game of Friday to be eliminated.
- Drury has won at least two games in the GLVC Tournament for the third time in program history and in back-to-back seasons for the first time in program history.
QUOTABLE
"I saw a bunch of grit in our girls today," coach
Brooke Gajewski commented postgame. " I think Jordyn has been great, and having Kaley ready to go is a great 1-2 punch."
"I think the timely hitting for the entire team has been great recently," Drury freshman
Emma Niemczyk noted. "It is great to move to second all-time, but we still have work to do. I am only worried about winning."
"I feel like we are playing free,"
Jordyn Foley mentioned. "This is the best time to perform, and I think the entire team is stepping up."
UP NEXT
Drury is scheduled for a rematch with top-seeded Indianapolis in an elimination game on Friday at 11 am. The winner will advance to play the loser of the Rockhurst and McKendree game at 1:30 pm.
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