Feb. 12, 2000
Box Score
The Missouri Tigers finished Day Two at the Metrodome Invitational with a 1-2 record and a 4-2 record overall. They started the day with a 5-3 win over Northern Iowa. They finished pool play with a 10-4 loss to host Minnesota. Missouri began bracket play as the fourth seed and faced the fifth place seed Northern Iowa. The Tigers lost 3-2.
Northern Iowa was the first to strike in game one. They scored one run in the top of the second and two in the third. Missouri tied the game in the bottom of the third. Freshman Sara Vassmer started the inning with a single to center field. Senior Stacy Gemeinhardt drove her in with a triple down the left field line. Junior Karen Williams hit a bunt single to score Gemeinhardt and advanced to second on a throwing error by the Panther third baseman. Williams injured her heel on the play and freshman Kristen Burke came in to relieve her. Senior Linda Swarts hit a sacrifice bunt to advance Burke to third. An RBI single to left field by senior Christy Skouby scored Burke.
The fourth inning was full of Panther errors and the Tigers were able to capitalize as freshman Dara Throneburg got on base with a walk, moved around the bases and scored on errors by the Northern Iowa infield.
The final Missouri run of the game came from a Throneburg home run right inside the right field foul pole. Junior Stephanie Falk picked up the win for the Tigers and improved her record to 1-1.
Missouri started off quick against Minnesota. Gemeinhardt started the game with a walked. She advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Vassmer and scored on a Swarts single. The Tigers waited until the third inning to strike again. Burke took one for the team, reaching first after being hit by an Angie Recknor, to begin the bottom half of the inning. She scored on a Gemeinhardt triple down the left line. Sophomore Erin Erickson drove a single down the left line to score Gemeinhardt.
It looked like the Tigers were in a comfortable position until the Golden Gopher poured on the bats in the fifth inning. They scored seven runs on seven hits and one Tiger error. One of the Gopher hits was a three-run homer by second baseman Jordan Nygren. Minnesota added three more runs in the seventh on back-to-back homeruns, including Nygren's second of the day.
Missouri's final score of the game came from an Erickson single-shot homer over the left field fence. Freshman Ingrid Werner and senior Christy Caccavo shared the pitching duties. Werner got the got moving her record to 1-1.
Northern Iowa was out for revenge in the teams second meeting of the day. They proved it in the top of the first inning by scoring two runs off an error and a wild pitch. Christy Skouby closed the gap in the bottom of the fourth inning, as she lead off with a home run to left center. The Tigers were able to tie the game in the bottom of the sixth. Gemeinhardt started off the inning with a single. Two batters later, Skouby hit a ground rule double to center field to advance Gemeinhardt to third. Erin Erickson grounded out to the Husky second baseman and Gemeinhardt scored to tie the game at two.
The game was not over yet. Panther third baseman Lindsay Wood hit a long ball over the center field fence for the game winning run in the top of the seventh. The Tigers had one base runner in the bottom of the seventh, but were unable to get their bats going. Stephanie Falk (2-1) was credited with the loss.
The 3-2 loss ended the tournament for the Tigers. They will host the Mizzou Round Robin Feb. 19-20 at University Field in Columbia. Western Illinois, Northern Iowa and UMKC will participate in the tournament.
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