Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 BENTONVILLE, ARK. – The East Central University softball team split a pair of games at the Arkansas-Monticello 8-State Classic at Memorial Park.  The Tigers first earned a 7-6 win over Northwest Missouri State and then fell 7-12 to Missouri-St. Louis.

The Tigers (3-5) were led at the plate by junior Jordynn VanPelt, who garnered four hits, two runs and three RBIs.  Sophomore Sydney Dow added a .500 batting average, with three hits.

Junior Lacey Paulk earned the win in game one and threw a total of four innings in the day.  She allowed five hits and struck out three batters.  Dow threw six innings in the opening game of the day, striking out seven.

The final day of the tournament was cancelled in anticipation of freezing temperatures and precipitation Sunday, Feb. 15 in the Benontville, Ark., area.  ECU will now get ready for the first home games of the 2015 season when they host Henderson State, Feb. 20-21 at Tiger Field.

Game 1 – ECU 7, Northwest Missouri State 6
The Bearcats (1-2) were the first to strike, earning two runs in the top of the first and another in the top of the second for a 0-3 advantage.

The Tigers got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the third inning when VanPelt hit the first home run of the season with a blast over the center field fence for cut the deficit to 1-3.

NWMSU added a run in the top of the fifth inning to push the lead back out to 1-4.

ECU came fighting back in the bottom of the inning, cutting the deficit to on 3-4.  Marcum led off the inning with a single to short.  Junior Peyton Watson was walked, but ball four was a wild pitch that put the runners at second and third.  That allowed junior Taylor Davis to earn two RBIs with a triple down the right field line.

The Bearcats responded with two runs in the top of the sixth to make it a 3-6 score.

The Tigers then tied the game at six in the bottom of the inning on a three-run home run from senior Lacey Williams-Wenholm.  She was able to send home sophomore Sydney Dow, who singled and junior Autumn Suydam who was walked.

NWMSU went three-up; three down in the top of the seventh and then walked three ECU batters to load the bases in the bottom of the seventh.  Marcum then hit a hard ball to short to score the winning run for the Tigers.

Game 2 – Missouri-St. Louis 12, ECU 7
The Tritons were the first to score, earning a 0-2 lead after the first inning.

The Tigers responded and tied the game at two in the top of the second inning.  After two outs, senior Samantha McGraw singled and was sent home on a double from Dow.  Williams added an RBI with a double to center field.

UMSL then jumped ahead again in the bottom of the second inning, with four runs.  Two runs in the fourth by the Tritons made the score 2-8.

ECU cut the deficit to three in the top of the fifth on singles from VanPelt and senior Lauren Reeves and a home run by McGraw.

Two more runs in the top of the sixth cut the deficit to one (7-8) when VanPelt sent two runs home on a double down the left field line.

However, UMSL broke the score open in the bottom of the sixth with four runs for the 7-12 final.