IOWA CITY, IA – In the Regional semi-final, Missouri took advantage of five Long Beach State errors to defeat the 49ers, 5-3 Saturday afternoon. The Tigers were powered by Amanda Renth and Rhea Taylor, who combined to drive in four of Missouri’s five runs.
Long Beach State played small-ball in the bottom of the second inning to start the scoring. After a lead-off single by Jennifer Griffin, pinch-runner Casey Burba was advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt from Danielle Linke. Tyler then roped a single through the right side of the infield to score Burba from second to give the 49ers a 1-0 lead.
Missouri took the lead in the top of the third on Renth’s two-run homer. With one out in the inning, Taylor advanced to third base on two Long Beach State throwing errors on the same play. After a Julie Silver pop out, Renth smacked a 2-1 pitch from starter Brooke Taylor into the center field netting to give the Tigers a 2-1 lead.
The Tigers tacked on two more runs in the top of the fifth. Renth came through again with an RBI double, scoring Julie Silver from second base to increase Missouri’s lead to 3-1. After a fly out by Jen Bruck, Lindsey Ubrun reached on an error, allowing pinch-runner Abby Vock to score from second, increasing Missouri’s lead to 4-1. In the top of the sixth, Taylor gave Missouri an insurance run with an RBI single to push the Tigers’ lead to 5-1.
Long Beach State catcher Brooke LeSage connected on a two-run homer with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning off Missouri pitcher Stacy Delaney to decrease the deficit to 5-3, but Griffin popped out to shortstop to end the game.
Missouri’s Jen Bruck (17-9) was the winning pitcher. The senior pitched 4 1/3 innings, yielding only one run over six hits. Delaney pitched 2 2/3 innings in relief for her second save on the year, allowing two runs on three hits, while striking out two.
Brooke Turner (27-5) was the losing pitcher for Long Beach State after giving up four runs (one earned) and five hits through five innings. Bridgette Pagano came on in relief of turner and gave up three hits and one run through two innings.
With the win, Missouri advances to the Regional final Sunday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. (CDT). Long Beach State moves on to the losers bracket and will play either Creighton or Iowa at approximately 5 p.m. today.
GAME SUMMARY
| MISSOURI | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 8 | 0 |
| LONG BEACH STATE | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 5 |
WP: Jen Bruck (17-9)
LP: Brooke Turner (27-5)
SV: Stacy Delaney (2)
Errors
Long Beach State: 5
Missouri: 0