The McDonald County softball team raced off to a 4-0 start this season, but saw its winning streak come to a halt this weekend in Joplin.
The Lady Mustangs lost back-to-back games to Blue Springs and then lost to Bartlesville, Okla., in the third-place game Saturday at 6th annual Joplin Paige Neal/Christina Freeman Memorial Tournament at Missouri Southern.
Friday afternoon, the Lady Mustangs lost to Blue Springs 8-0.
Thanks to how the scores fell beforehand, the Lady Mustangs had a chance at revenge Saturday afternoon when they drew Blue Springs in the championship bracket of the tournament.
A day later the results stayed the same.
Blue Springs, the Class 4 state champion in 2008, defeated McDonald County 9-1.
The Lady Wildcats scored four times in the first inning, a run in the second and another three runs in the fifth inning to build the lead up to 8-0 at the time. The Lady Mustangs (4-3) scored their lone run in the sixth inning when Sarah Rickman smacked an RBI double.
In the second game, the Bartlesville Lady Bruins won 3-0 over McDonald County.
The game was scoreless until the sixth inning when three singles and a two-run double by Sarah Reed gave Bartlesville the lead for good.
McDonald County had scoring chances in the game, stranding runners in five of the seven innings. All told, nine runners were stranded. At the plate, Ashton Pratt was 4-for-4.
The Lady Mustangs return to action Monday hosting Neosho at 4:30 p.m.
