COLUMBIA, Mo. — The Western Michigan softball team opened the 2011 Wilson Classic hosted by Missouri on Friday.

The Broncos dropped a 12-4 decision to North Dakota State in six innings and then were stopped by the host Tigers, ranked 16th in the country, 10-0 in five innings.

In the first game of the day for WMU Lexi Jager drove in a pair of runs on her third double of the year after Christina Pigozzi and Courtney Rousseau earned walks to lead off the third inning. Jager scored her seventh run of the year when Tara Buchanan reached on an error by the NDSU shortstop.

The Broncos four and final run came in the top of the sixth when freshman Myranda McDonald ripped her first collegiate home run down the the left field line.

The four runs for Western Michigan were not enough as North Dakota State scored six in the first inning, scored once more in the fifth and sixth and then, leading 8-4, tallied four more runs to end the game in six innings.

WMU managed just one hit, off the bat of Rousseau in the fifth, falling to Missouri for the second time in this young 2011 season. The Tigers opened the game with five runs in the first and four more in the fourth. Mizzou benefited off two home runs during the game, while its defense allowed the one hit and just four walks.

Ancilla College

CLARMONT, Fla. — The Ancilla College softball team notched two more victories during its spring trip to Central Florida stretching their record to 9-3.

In their first game, the Chargers avenged one of their three losses this season by defeating Burlington County College (NJ) by a 12-4 score in five innings. Game two saw Ancilla pound out 15 hits in another five inning affair, as they defeated Elmhurst College (Ill.) JV 17-5.

In the opener, Burlington scored a run in the bottom of the first and second, while the Lady Chargers tied the game with two in the top of the thirrd on a two out, two RBI double by Niles’ Demi Schrader. Burlington answered with another run in the bottom of the third to take a 3-2 lead, but Ancilla took its first lead of the game in the top of the fourth. After one out in the inning, the Chargers put two runners on base with back-to-back singles from Allison Chiles and Courtney Cain. Cassidy Hardesty plated Chiles with a double to right and Cain scored one batter later on a RBI groundout by Trina Bauer.

Burlington scored another run in the bottom of the fourth to tie the game at 4-4 before Ancilla busted out for eight runs in the top of the fifth.

The Lady Chargers took advantage of three Burlington errors in the inning with the big hit coming off the bat of Kaitlyn Dreibelbis, a two out, two RBI double to center. Ancilla’s first shutout inning on defense in the bottom of the fifth sealed the five inning victory.

Game two saw another big inning from the Ancilla bats, just a little earlier in the game. The Chargers, again poised as visitors in the game, scored 11 unanswered runs in the first three innings, including a seven spot in the top of the second. Gretchen Gieseking picked up an RBI in both of the first two innings, pitcher Emily Steele helped her own cause with an RBI in the first and two RBI in the second, while Chiles added two more RBI with a double in the second.

Elmhurst’s JV scored two in the bottom of the third before Ancilla went on another run, scoring five in the fourth and one in the fifth to take a 17-2 lead. Elmhurst fought valiantly in the bottom of the fifth, putting up three more runs, but it wasn’t enough to keep the Chargers from finishing the game in five innings. Gieseking finished the game with a 3-for-3, 3 RBI performance with four runs scored, while Steele finished 3-for-5 with 4 RBI and picked up the win in both games.

“I‘m proud of today’s performance,” commented Ancilla coach Scott Reese. “We fought hard in game one, busted out with a big inning, and then held them to finish the game in five. In the second game, we stayed focused even though we put up a lot of runs early. Sometimes that is hard to do. We are hitting the ball well and playing good enough defense to win. It’s fun to watch.”