Loper Softball Wins in Topeka, Wraps Washburn Invite Sunday

TOPEKA, KS – Senior catcher Katie Gosker hit a two-out Grand Slam in the bottom of the sixth inning to lift Nebraska Kearney past Missouri-St. Louis, 7-5, Saturday afternoon in Topeka, Kan.

This was the Lopers (8-9) only game on day two of the Washburn Invite. They’ll face St. Cloud State and Minnesota-Crookston on Sunday to finish up the weekend.

The Tritons (3-4) used two in the fourth and three more in the fifth to erase deficits of 1-0 and 3-2. Starter Ashley Borowitz allowed just one earned over the first three innings and Jenna Towle was throwing alright in relief until the sixth.

A walk and single started things with a ground out advancing the runners. After Towle registered her only strikeout of the game, California sophomore Sydney Thomason (2 for 3, two runs & three RBI’s) drew a walk. That brought up Gosker (Blair), UNK’s three-hole hitter. Earlier this year in a win at Colorado-Colorado Springs, she hit a “Granny” to get the Lopers out to a 4-2 lead. She did it again today with a shot to left center. That marks her 28th career dinger, fifth most in school history and just three behind UNK Hall of Famer Kathy Nelson (’84).

Thomason, in relief of fellow Golden State native Faith Gaynor (4.0 IP, zero earned runs, three K’s) worked a scoreless seventh to move to 3-1. She fanned three, walked none and worked around five hits.