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SPRINGFIELD, MO. -- Junior Ashley Rotkvich threw her first career one-hitter, silencing Southwest Baptist in the finale of the MIAA South Crossover on Sunday afternoon and salvaging a split in the day’s action. Truman fell, 4-3, in extra innings against Central Missouri before blanking SBU, 9-0, in the nightcap.

Rotkvich (Crestwood, Ill., Shepard) carried a no-hitter to the final inning, having put just three baserunners on via walks in the first six innings. After retiring the first Bearcat batter, a comebacker to the mound was scored a hit as Rotkvich bobbled it, allowing Karly Bitters to reach first. However, Rotkvich rebounded to force a 6-3 double play to end it, closing the event on a high note for the ’Dogs.

Eight different Bulldogs accounted for ten hits in the game, with Christine Ulses (St. Peters, Mo., Francis Howell Central) and Alex Weber (Manhattan, Ill., Lincoln-Way Central High School) tallying two hits apiece. Truman led 1-0 after the first and added two in the third before icing the game with a four-run sixth and a two-run seventh.

In the opener, Truman suffered a heartbreaking defeat against UCM, giving up three runs in the bottom of the seventh before surrendering the game-winner in the eighth. Elizabeth Grover (Troy, Mo., Troy Buchanan) kept the Jennies off the board through the first six innings, as the Bulldogs built a 3-0 lead behind a passed ball run in the sixth and RBI singles by Bridget Schade and Mary Manley in the seventh.

However, the Jennies tied it in the bottom half, forcing an extra inning. After the ’Dogs stranded Alexandria Rollet (Perryville, Mo., Perryville) on third in the top of the eighth, UCM plated its placed runner on a sacrifice fly to pick up the win. Katie Pitts (Jefferson City, Mo., Helias) had two hits for the Bulldogs, as Truman out-hit UCM, 7-6.

Truman (13-11) returns to action next weekend with a pair of doubleheaders, hosting Pittsburg (Kan.) State on Friday at 2 pm before welcoming Missouri Southern to Kirksville at noon on Saturday. The Bulldogs played both teams on Friday at the Crossover, taking a wild 10-9 win against PSU before falling to MSSU.

(Courtesy Truman State Athletics Department)