Kansas City
IUPUI
Byrn Walks-Off Game One in Extras to Earn ?Roos Friday Split
5/6/2016 9:18:00 PM | Softball
Game 1 Box Score | Game 2 Box Score
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The UMKC softball team earned a doubleheader split with IUPUI on Friday, May 6, at Missouri 3&2 Field in Kansas City, Missouri, thanks to a 10th-inning walk off hit from freshman shortstop Morgan Byrn in game one.
The 'Roos (23-24) were only able to scratch three runs across the plate in game one, and it took 10 innings to do so, but it was all worth the wait in the end.
IUPUI (17-32) was the first two get on the board in the early game, thanks to a two-run third inning where they tallied four hits off sophomore pitcher Amber Grove (14-9).
UMKC got one of the runs back in the bottom half of the third frame, thanks to a two-out single from senior Brooke Parker (2-for-5), who drove in sophomore Kendra Leach (2-for-4) from third, making the score 2-1.
Grove shook off the two-run third and hung zeros in the runs column the rest of the way, pitching all-10 innings for the 'Roos, and recording a career-high tying nine strikeouts.
Redshirt freshman Rachel Pate (2-for-5) picked up the game-tying run for Grove and the 'Roos in the bottom of the fourth, with a perfectly placed ball down the right field line, driving in sophomore Ashlin O'Brien (2-for-5).
The Jaguars and 'Roos battled back-and-forth through extras, but it was Byrn's 10th-inning RBI single that finished off IUPUI, 3-2.
It took just one inning in game two to score the total amount of runs that were had in game one, after IUPUI led off the game with three runs, aided by two defensive errors from the 'Roos.
UMKC answered back with two runs of their own, with RBI doubles from senior Katie Kelley (3-for-4) and freshman Bri Sims (2-for-3), making the score 3-2 Jaguars after one inning of play.
IUPUI matched UMKC's first-inning output with two runs in the top of the second off Kelley (8-13), with a pair of RBI doubles, but the 'Roos wouldn't let things get away from them, and scored a run in the bottom half of the frame, off another Kelley hit, making the score 5-3.
IUPUI scored a run in the fifth to take a three-run lead, and the 'Roos gave it one last fighting chance in the bottom of the seventh, with Sims driving in her second run of the game. UMKC kept a rally going and worked the bases loaded, and if it weren't for the quick hands of the IUPUI pitcher snagging a line drive out of the air on an Alexandra Friloux pinch-hit, the 'Roos would have likely swept the day, but ultimately fell 6-4.
UMKC and IUPUI face off in the rubber match on Saturday, May 6 at noon. The game is the last home contest of the season for the 'Roos, and will be senior day, with festivities set to begin 15 minutes before first pitch.
