The Gorillas had an eventful weekend, sweeping Northwest Missouri and having a series canceled that Saturday due to rain and field issues.
It was a pretty quiet start to the game for both sides, with no points scored until the fourth inning. Senior Lexi Davis started the scoring on a fielder’s choice, driving in one run. Junior Haili Igou hit a triple to right field to drive in another run in the fourth inning. In the fifth inning, Senior Alleyna Rushing hit a fly out to center field, which resulted in one more run for the Gorillas. Graduate Student Kadyn Trochim hit the last scoring run, bringing in the final run of the game, but that wasn’t the end of it all.
In the top of the seventh inning, Senior Heather Arnett was at her last at-bat of the game. A hit here, and she would break the NCAA Division II record of most consecutive games with a hit. Before this, she was tied with the record at 41 consecutive games with a hit. The pitch came, and it was exactly what she was looking for, hitting a ground single between shortstop and second base, giving her the NCAA Division II record for most consecutive games with a hit at 42 straight games.
Coach Josh Barnes was very proud of Arnett and her newly established record, saying, “It’s not every day you get to see a record like this broken and for some coaches it doesn’t happen in their career, so I was happy to be able to help her to get that record.”
Game two of the doubleheader against Northwest Missouri was nothing short of exciting. The Gorillas came out strong in the first with Trochim singling to left to bring in a run. Arnett got her hit early in this game to extend her streak to 43 games with a hit. Later in the inning, Davis hit a fly out to right field to bring one more run for the Gorillas in the first. The Bearcats struck back in the bottom of the first, bringing the score to 2-1. They continued with three scored in the fourth to make it a 4-2 ballgame. The Gorillas came swinging in the fifth, scoring five runs in one inning. Senior Sailor Hall singled to center field to bring in one run, with Igou hitting her own single to bring in a second run. Senior Kyleigh Lamont then hit a home run to bring in three runs, capping off the Gorillas’ eventful fifth inning and bringing the score to 7-4. The Bearcats hit their own home run in the bottom of the fifth to tie the game. The Gorillas called the game in the sixth by scoring four more runs, starting with a single by Davis to center to bring in one run, followed by a single by Igou to bring in another run. Lamont hit the last single to bring in two more runs and, with a scoreless inning by the Bearcats, called the game with a final score of 11-7.
The Pittsburg State Gorillas will return to action on Friday, April 17, at 2 p.m. against the Northeastern State Riverhawks.