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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE St. Joseph, Mo. - Missouri Southern hit five home runs in the first day of Missouri Western Tournament today and took two out of three games, defeating Upper Iowa (11-4) and Mary (11-6), but fell to 15th ranked Minnesota State in the opener, 11-3. Southern (3-13) ran into tough pitching against MSU in the first game today, but freshman Megan Roark had a double and an RBI in what would be a huge day for the Seneca, Mo. native. Five other Lions added a hit each in the game. MSSU broke out the bats in game two as the Lions got a homer each from Angie Turner and Lauren Hasty. Roark had two hits, two RBIs and scored twice, while Julie Taylor went 3-4 from the plate with three RBIs and a run scored. Tamika Barnes started and went five innings, allowing one run for the win. Kelli Bax pitched the final two innings and picked up her first save of the season. In the final game of the day, the Lions had homers from Roark, Bax and Taylor. Roark went 4-4 with three RBIs and three runs scored. She had two doubles in the game. On the day, Roark picked up seven hits and six RBIs and increased her batting average more than 100 points. Bax started and went five and a third to earn the win. Lauryn Berger threw the final one and two thirds of an inning, holding Mary hitless and allowing just one walk. Southern will be back in action tomorrow, facing off with Colorado State-Pueblo at 9 am and finishing with Wayne State (Neb.) at 1 pm. |