Bolivar, Mo. - The SBU Bearcats softball team opened up MIAA play this weekend when they hosted Central Missouri on Saturday. The Bearcats fought hard in both matchups, but lost the first game 0-11 in five innings, and the second game 3-6 in extra innings. "I thought we fought really hard," head coach Christy Capner stated about her team. "They came up with some big hits in key situations."

SBU dropped the first game of the double-header 0-11, but played a hard fought game in the second game of the day. With SBU down 2-0 going in the bottom of the fourth, Rhiannon Mendez hit a lead-off home run, to pull SBU within one run. UCM would respond with a run of their own in the top half of the fifth before Krysta Baderdeen would blast a two-run home run to tie the game up at 3-3. The game would then go into extra innings where UCM would add 3 more in the top of the eighth.  SBU threatened in the bottom half of the innings, loading the bases with no outs, but weren't able to come out of the game with the victory as they fell 3-6.

SBU will be back in action next weekend when SBU hosts the first MIAA Crossover Tournament in Springfield, Missouri. SBU will play a total of 6 games over three days next weekend, so come out and support your Bearcats.