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University of Nebraska - Kearney Athletics

UNK softball
Steven Christy
8
Winner Central Missouri UCMSB 14-30, 7-14 miaa
0
Nebraska-Kearney UNK 21-18, 11-6 miaa
Winner
Central Missouri UCMSB
14-30, 7-14 miaa
8
Final
0
Nebraska-Kearney UNK
21-18, 11-6 miaa
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 R H E
Central Missouri UCMSB 3 2 2 0 1 8 11 0
Nebraska-Kearney UNK 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2

W: Lay,K (6-10) L: Thomason, Sydney (1-3)

1
Central Missouri UCMSB 14-31, 7-15 miaa
3
Winner Nebraska-Kearney UNK 22-18, 12-6 miaa
Central Missouri UCMSB
14-31, 7-15 miaa
1
Final
3
Nebraska-Kearney UNK
22-18, 12-6 miaa
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Central Missouri UCMSB 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 4 0
Nebraska-Kearney UNK 0 1 0 0 0 2 X 3 5 0

W: Bott, Stacy (7-1) L: Lay,K (6-11)

Game Recap: Softball |

Late Homer Helps Lopers Get the Split

Kearney, Neb. – Sophomore catcher Katie Gosker hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth inning, her third dinger of the weekend, and sophomore Stacy Bott earned her seventh win as Nebraska-Kearney slipped past Central Missouri, 3-1, in game two of a double header Saturday afternoon at Patriot Park.

The Jennies (14-31, 7-15) took the first game in five innings, 8-0, as junior Kyleigh Lay struck out 13 in a one-hit complete game. She won for the sixth time by facing 17 batters and throwing 83 pitches. 
Katie Gosker
Katie Gosker


Not surprisingly, Lay entered the second game after the Jennies fell behind 1-0 on a Gosker (Blair) homer to dead center in the third. She worked out of a jam in the fourth by fanning two Lopers and then had two more K's in the fifth. However, UNK (22-18, 12-6) finally got to Lay in the bottom of the sixth.

Offensively, UCM was blanked by Colorado lefty Madison Rosenthal over the first five innings. They tied things up in the top of the sixth thanks to two singles and a double. Bott came in with two on and two out and got a grounder to second to keep the game tied.

California freshman first baseman Sydney Thomason (1 for 2) worked Lay to a full count to start the sixth and then drew a walk. That brought up Gosker (3 for 3) who also homered in Saturday's first game win over Lincoln. On a 2-1 pitch, she hit a towering shot to deep left with the only question being whether it would stay fair. It did by around five feet and landed not in the grass but the parking lot behind the left field fence. Gosker now has 12 of UNK's 31 homers on the spring.

"She got a lot of us on the up ball. My plan going into that at-bat was to just stay down. If I got behind with two strikes, I wanted to just protect and throw something up," said Gosker. "I was really hoping it was fair. I had one yesterday that unfortunately fell the wrong way. It felt really good coming off the bat. She (Lay) provides a lot of velo so all it really takes is a barrel to contact and the rest will happen."

UCM loaded the bases in the top of the seventh via a single and two walks. However, Bott got a fly out to right to end the threat and game. The transfer from Northeastern (Colo.) J.C. threw the final 1.1 innings and has had a hand in 10 of UNK's 22 victories (three saves and seven wins).

"Timely hits can win ball games. We kind of lost momentum in the first game … that's probably the best that they've played all year. Offensively, that was one of our down efforts of the year. Sometimes that happens but we bounced back," said UNK head coach Katie Ackermann. "She (Lay) was throwing hard, firm, outside and hitting location. She really made us work for it."

Thomason had UNK's lone hit in game one with Bott allowing one earned run with three K's over 2.2 innings of relief work. The Jennies got hits from eight different players and scored at least two runs in each of the first three innings to build a big lead.

The 12-game home stand ends next weekend against nationally-ranked Central Oklahoma (38-6, 17-1) and Newman (15-25, 6-12).
 
 
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