SPRINGFIELD, Mo.- The Drury Panthers improved to 9-1 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference with a doubleheader sweep of Truman State on Saturday at Thompson Field in Springfield. The Panthers came from behind in the late innings of both contests, winning game one 4-3, and they took the second game 5-3.
The wins extended Drury’s winning streak to six games and took their record to 15-6 and 9-1 in the GLVC. Truman State fell to 8-16 and 5-9 in the league.
Drury trailed 3-0 going into the fifth inning of game one but chipped away with a run on a ground ball by Hannah Chambliss.
The Panthers grabbed the lead an inning later, scoring the go-ahead run with two outs. Grace King hit a solo home run to pull Drury within a run, then Devin Hale’s bases-loaded single drove in a pair of runs to put DU in front 4-3.
Karsyn Smith pitched the sixth and seventh innings to get the win in relief and move her record to 4-0. Rachael Kernich (2-6) took the loss for the Bulldogs.
Rylee Kolb went 1 for 2 at the plate for Drury with a double and two runs scored.
In game two, the Panthers found themselves in the same position as in game one, down 3-0 going into the late innings. This time, Drury scored five runs in the sixth to pull out a 5-3 victory and complete the doubleheader sweep.
The Panthers loaded the bases in sixth and drove in their first run on a sacrifice fly by Sydney Sneed. With two outs in the frame, Kinzy Mathis picked up an RBI on a bases-loaded wild pitch, then Grace King singled to center field and three runs would score on the hit and error in centerfield.
Haylee VanDeventer (4-3) got the win for Drury going six innings, allowing six hits, three runs, and two earned runs, with two walks and three strikeouts. Karsyn Smith pitched the seventh inning for her first save of the year, while Annabel Zimmer (4-7) took the loss for Truman State.
Drury is idle until next Saturday when they host Lindenwood for a doubleheader starting at noon at Thompson Field.
#allweDUiswin
