Eastern’s results at Tulsa Tournament

Date

Opponent

Score

Friday

Stephen F. Austin

W 6-4

Friday

Tulsa

L 3-1

Saturday

Missouri State

L 14-6

Saturday

Creighton

L 6-0

Sunday

Missouri State

W 3-2

Sunday

Tulsa

W 6-4

Eastern used timely hitting from its younger players and another solid performance from senior Sandyn Short to win two games Sunday in Tulsa, Okla. The Panthers (6-5), on the strength of a complete-game pitching performance from junior Karyn Mackie and key RBIs from Angela Danca and Megan Nelson held off Missouri State 3-2 in Eastern’s first game Sunday in the five-team tournament.Eastern followed that win with a 6-4 defeat of Tulsa in the Panthers’ final game of the three-day tournament, where the Panthers compiled a 3-3 record.Against Missouri State, Mackie hurled a three-hitter, keeping the Bears’ bats silent a day after they beat Eastern 14-6.”Karyn worked ahead,” said Eastern head coach Kim Schuette. “She got ahead of the batters and her drop ball was working pretty well. She was on today.”Danca, a sophomore left-handed slap hitter, came through with an RBI single to right field to break a 1-1 tie in the fifth inning.Nelson added an insurance run for Eastern in the seventh, with the freshman center fielder singling to left field on a full count and driving in Chelsea Adams. “I was pretty determined,” Nelson said. “She put the pitch in there and I just followed through.”Nelson’s RBI was needed, with Missouri State scoring a run on two hits in the bottom half of the seventh. The Bears had the game-tying run at second base, but Mackie got Missouri State’s Jessie Smith to ground out to senior Chelsea Adams to secure Eastern’s win. The Panthers didn’t have long to celebrate their win against Missouri State, having to play a Tulsa team that beat Eastern 3-1 on Friday.Eastern also didn’t wait long to score two runs in the first inning, with doubles by seniors Sandyn Short and Katy Steele driving in the Panthers’ first two runs. Short added to her 2-for-3 day and 3 RBIs against Tulsa, with a two-run homer in the third inning.”I just wanted to jump on the first pitches early,” said Short, who homered on a 1-0 count.Eastern led 4-0 after Short’s fourth home run of the season, but Tulsa responded with three runs of its own in the bottom half of the third.Eastern’s starter Kathleen Jacoby settled down in the next three innings and survived a wild seventh inning to secure her fourth win of the year.Tulsa loaded the bases with two outs before Jacoby got Tulsa’s Ashlee Lubniewski to fly out to left field to end the game.”Well I was just hoping each inning was the seventh,” Schuette said once Eastern got the lead. “Sure enough, it got exciting. I was just hoping we could find a way to get an out.”