Junior Salome Bleuler (at left) and graduate student Kristine Lindal helped lead the UMSL women’s tennis team to its first-ever Great Lakes Valley Conference final and picked up a doubles point in a 5-2 loss to No. 18 Drury. The 35th-ranked Tritons will learn their NCAA Tournament fate on Monday night.
Softball
UMSL lost a pair of one-run games in extra innings Sunday at Maryville in its lone doubleheader of the week. Freshman Carlie Kudary sent Game 1 to extra frames with a two-out, RBI double in the seventh. Junior Carly Kingery was tagged with the loss despite allowing just four hits and striking out 11 in the 2-1 loss. Senior Jennah Perryman gave the Tritons a 2-1 lead in the fifth inning of Game 2, but the Saints used a two-out, inside-the-park home run in the seventh to force the second extra-inning contest and scored a run in the ninth for a 3-2 victory. UMSL (28-18, 15-9 Great Lakes Valley Conference) closes out the regular season next weekend with doubleheaders at Southern Indiana (Saturday) and Bellarmine (Sunday).
Baseball
The Tritons went 3-2 on the week, beginning with a 10-4 midweek win over Harris-Stowe before splitting a four-game series at Truman State on Saturday and Sunday. UMSL swept the final two games, rallying for an 11-9 win in Game 1 before posting a 7-5 victory in the nightcap. Junior Tom DeCero batted .579 on the week, going 11 for 19 at the plate with seven runs scored and five RBI. DeCero and senior Cooper Vinz each had eight hits, four RBI and four runs in the series at Truman. The Tritons (17-22, 8-11 GLVC) will host No. 5 Illinois Springfield on Tuesday in a single, non-conference game at 3 p.m. before traveling Missouri S&T for a four-game series on Saturday and Sunday.
Women’s Tennis
No. 35 UMSL earned a runner-up finish at the GLVC Championship, beating Illinois Springfield 5-3 and No. 28 Bellarmine 5-0 in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively, before falling to No. 18 Drury 5-2 in the title match in Springfield, Missouri. It was the program’s first championship match appearance. The doubles tandem of Salome Bleuler and Kristine Lindal and No. 2 singles player Marina Prediger picked up the Tritons’ two points in the final. UMSL (14-5) will learn of its NCAA Tournament plans tonight when the bracket is unveiled at 7:30 p.m. Monday on NCAA.com.
Men’s Tennis
The Tritons suffered a 5-2 loss to Southern Indiana Friday in the quarterfinal round of the GLVC Championship.They scored their two points at Nos. 1 and 2 singles as sophomore Ben-Hur Kasprzak won his 11th straight match at the top spot, bouncing back from a first set loss, while freshman Vitor Monteiro won at No. 2. UMSL (12-4) will now wait to learn if it earns a spot in the NCAA Tournament when the field is announced Monday night. The Tritons have been ranked eighth in the region in all three regional polls with the top eight earning a spot.
Women’s Golf
UMSL earned a runner-up finish at the UIS Spring Invitational over the weekend, with four players finishing in the top 10. The Tritons turned in a combined score of 600, which included rounds of 307 and 293. They finished 19 strokes behind Findlay in the nine-team field. Seniors Stefaniya Ivanova and Ares Boira and sophomore Emma Thorngren all tied for sixth place, each shooting a 151. UMSL returns to action Friday through Sunday at the GLVC Championships at Fox Run Golf Club in Eureka, Missouri.
Men’s Golf
The Tritons opened play at the GLVC Championships on Sunday by shooting a combined score of 609 and sit in fourth place. They posted rounds of 304 and 305 and trail co-leaders Indianapolis and Bellarmine by 10 strokes. UMSL will look to stay in the top four in Monday’s final 18 holes of stroke play to advance to Tuesday’s match play. Freshman Trevor Kosch shot a team-best 150 (74-76) and sits in a tie for fifth individually.
