The UMKC softball team fought back from a four-run first inning deficit to beat Utah Valley in the series rubber match, 9-6, on Saturday, April 16 at Missouri 3&2 Field in Kansas City, Missouri, to give UMKC head coach Meredith Smith Neal her 200th-career victory at the helm of the Kangaroo softball program. Leading the attack for the ‘Roos on Saturday was redshirt freshman Rachel Pate, who went a perfect 4-for-4 from the dish with a home run and four RBIs.
Utah Valley (6-32) jumped on top of the ‘Roos (18-19) early, with a one-out wall-scraping home run to right field off sophomore pitcher Amber Grove (10-8), who pitched a 10-inning complete game win on Friday. The solo shot was only the start of the big inning for the Wolverines, as they would follow with a triple, an RBI single, and a two-run homer to left field to make the score 4-0 after one-half inning of play.
The big start for UVU didn’t faze the ‘Roos, and they put the bats to work in bottom half of the inning, with senior Katie Kelley (0-for-1) getting things started with a one-out walk, her first of three free passes in the ballgame.. Freshman Bri Sims (1-for-3) stroked a double to right field, and a misplay on the throw in from the right fielder allowed Kelley to cross the plate and Sims to move to third.
Pate kept things rolling with an RBI single, before sophomore Kelsey Goodwin (1-for-4) would ground into a double-play to end the first, with UMKC down 4-2.
Grove settled in in the second inning, and slowly gained the momentum back for the ‘Roos, shutting down the Wolverine bats, and that momentum culminated with a big offensive outburst in the bottom of the fourth for UMKC.
Pate led off the inning with a single up the middle, and Goodwin ripped a ball down the left field line to move Pate to third. Freshman Morgan Byrn (0-for-2) garnered a walk to load the bases for senior Alexandra Friloux.
Friloux (1-for-3) came through in the clutch with a single to left field, plating two runners to level the score at four runs apiece, and advanced to second on a throw to the plate.
With two runners in scoring position, Smith Neal pinch ran freshman Kameron Fisher for Friloux, and brought in sophomore Ashlin O’Brien to pinch hit.
The move paid off as O’Brien reached on a fielder’s choice and UVU was unable to gun the runner at the plate, then with the Wolverine catcher trying to get O’Brien at first after the play at the plate, Fisher blazed her way around the bases to tack on another run and give the ‘Roos a 6-4 advantage.
Grove stayed in a groove and hung another zero in the fifth, and Pate slashed her solo-shot to left field to tally another UMKC run, 7-4.
The fatigue from the 10-inning outing the day before started to show with Grove in the sixth, and she allowed two runs, before Kelley replaced her on the mount to get out of a jam and leave the bases loaded.
Clinging to a one-run lead, the Kangaroo bats awoke again in the sixth, registering two runs on a bases-loaded single from Pate, and Kelley would go on to close the door in the seventh to pick up her second save of the season and give UMKC the 9-6 victory.
The ‘Roos travel to Seattle, Washington for a three-game set against WAC opponent Seattle U, April 22 and 23.