TAMPA, Fla.- Southwest Minnesota State lost the first leg of a double-header, 2-0 and was unable to rally back in a 5-4 loss in the nightcap at the University of Tampa on Monday night at the Naimoli Family Stadium.
Game 1 Box Score
Game 1- Southwest Minnesota State (5-2) struggled to create any offense in a 2-0 loss as Makaleigh Dooley pitched a no-hitter for the University of Tampa (14-3) in the first leg of a double header on Monday afternoon.
Dooley (8-1) came just one walked batter away from throwing a perfect game from the circle with seven strikeouts while
Alex O'Connor pitched all six innings for SMSU giving up just six hits and two earned runs.
O'Connor gave up both runs in the bottom of the first inning but threw five shutout innings the rest of the way. SMSU and the University of Tampa will now play the second leg from Tampa before playing a double-header at Florida Southern University tomorrow afternoon starting at 5 p.m., eastern time.
Game 2 Box Score
Game 2- SMSU scored two runs in the third and another run in the fourth, but were unable to rally all the way back from a 5-1 deficit as the University of Tampa defeated the Mustangs, 5-4 in the nightcap of a double-header on Monday night.
Both teams traded runs in the first inning as Tori Brooks was driven in by
Kali Tomlinson to put SMSU on the board in the top half of the first which was answered by a lead off triple and an RBI single from Tampa in the bottom half.
Following an SMSU 1-2-3 inning in the top of the second, Tampa took a 5-1 lead after a 3 RBI triple in the bottom half of the second. SMSU answered back with two runs in the third inning.
Shelby Crank, who entered the game with two outs in the bottom of the second inning, served up a 1-2-3 inning from the circle in the bottom of the third and SMSU came within one run off of a SAC bunt from
Karmann Carroll that scored
Sam Flack.
Flack, who led the inning off with a triple, finished the night 2-for-3 from the dish.
SMSU was unable to complete the comeback during the inning after advancing Carroll, the possible game-tying runner, to second on a SAC bunt. The Mustangs would strand one more runner on base in the sixth as Makaleigh Dooley closed out her second win of the day for Tampa.
Southwest Minnesota State will now travel to play at Florida Southern University tomorrow afternoon starting at 5 p.m., eastern time.