The No. 6 Emporia State softball team had its 16-game winning streak snapped Wednesday night, defeating Northwest Missouri State, 2-1, before falling in the nightcap, 2-0, in Maryville, Mo.
The Hornets hadn’t lost a conference game since April 18 of last year — a 3-2 decision to Central Missouri.
“We always need a little bit of luck, and we definitely weren’t getting any luck today,” ESU coach Kristi Bredbenner said. “We hit a lot of balls right at people and weren’t hitting any gaps.”
ESU still hung on in Game One, riding the coattails of yet another strong performance by Courtney Reed.
The senior struck out 15 of the 24 batters she faced, allowing just two hits and a single run.
The Hornets used three consecutive two-out singles from Chelsea McClernon, Jessie Wiard and April Huddleston to plate their first run in the third. They tacked on another in the fourth after Miranda Campbell led off with a walk and later scored on a Jennifer Dace sacrifice fly.
ESU had eight hits in all, led by Huddleston’s three and Courtney Stevens’ two.
The Hornets couldn’t find the same firepower in Game Two, mustering just five hits off Kelly Morris.
ESU stranded six runners and three times had runners in scoring position with less than two outs.
“I can’t take away anything from either team,” Bredbenner said. “I thought we both played pretty well.”
Meanwhile, Samantha Sheeley had one of her best outings of the year, striking out 11 Bearcats in the complete-game effort.
She also picked up the tough-luck loss, allowing two runs and three hits over six innings.
“There were a couple mistakes between Courtney and Sam, but we need to score enough runs to be able to make those kinds of mistakes,” Bredbenner said.
Dace had two of ESU’s five hits in the second game.
The Hornets (34-8, 7-1 MIAA) will play host to Truman for a doubleheader at 1 p.m. Friday.
Wednesday at Maryville, Mo.
Game One
ESU 2, NW Missouri 1
Emporia State 001 100 0 — 2 8 0
NW Missouri 000 100 0 — 1 2 0
W — Reed. L — Krueger.
LOB — Hornets 7; Northwest 2. 2B — ESU: Huddleston. HBP — NWMSU: Stephenson. SH — ESU: Viola. SF — ESU: Dace. SB — ESU: Stevens; NWMSU: Stephenson.
Game Two
NW Missouri 2, ESU 0
Emporia State 000 000 0 — 0 5 2
NW Missouri 000 110 X — 2 3 1
W — Morris. L — Sheeley.
E — ESU: Huddleston; Sheeley; NWMSU: Gustin. DP — Northwest 1. LOB — Hornets 6; Northwest 3. HR — NWMSU: Gustin. SH — ESU: Campbell; Pfautsch; NWMSU: Gustin. SB — NWMSU: Stephenson.