Women are ready for MIAA

Although Emporia State topped Missouri Southern’s Lady Lions in the win column, it was the Lady Lions who took the glory April 24 by sweeping the doubleheader.

“They’re a quality team,” said head coach Jennifer Jimerson. “Those were two big wins.”

Freshman pitcher Callie Stanford threw a three-hit shutout in game one, striking out five.

Early errors opened the doors for the Lady Lions in the second. Two errors by Emporia State led to three runs for Southern.

Emporia State remained scoreless in game one while Southern brought in two more runs to capture the game, 5-0.

Senior second baseman Lisa Roe’s two hits in game one put her in fifth place in Southern’s career hits list.

Senior pitcher Jana Allison entered game two looking to even her record.

She did just that by allowing only five hits and one run while striking out six.

“They have some big hitters on their team,” Jimerson said.

“We really kept the ball down. We focused on good quality pitches.”

Jimerson said most of the threat was gone by keeping the ball down when throwing to big hitters.

After a third inning RBI by junior Kara Reed, sophomore catcher Mary Barrow added more hurt with a bases-loaded triple, bringing in three.

Following the four-run inning, Southern posted two runs in the fourth and three more in the sixth.

After a split doubleheader April 29, against Missouri Western, the Lady Lions are currently seeded sixth in the MIAA tournament.

“I’m extremely proud of the girls and how they’ve kept fighting [this season],” Jimerson said. “I feel we can beat any team in our conference.”

The Lady Lions first MIAA game is at noon Friday against third seed Central Missouri State at Happy Rock Park in Gladstone.