Wayne State Softball went 1-5 on the weekend, facing Truman State twice in Kirksville, Missouri, then facing Missouri Western, Washburn, Northwest Missouri State and Central Missouri in the Hy-Vee Classic.

In the first game against the Truman State Bulldogs, junior Abbie Hix went three for five with three runs scored.

“We went in super relaxed and we just told ourselves to have fun,” said Hix. “We stayed positive and kept our energy up.”

WSC took a 3-0 lead in the second inning when freshman Annie Grammer ripped her first collegiate home run down the left field line to score senior Rachel Shumaker and Hix.

The Wildcats added two more runs in the fifth inning. Senior Katelyn Wobken doubled and then scored while junior Morgan Vasa walked and later scored when junior Emily Chandler reached on an error.

“We kept our energy and attitudes high and ended up executing well,” said Hix.

Truman scored two runs in the bottom of the fifth to cut the Wildcat lead to 5-2, and came within one run in the sixth inning, scoring three runs on a three-run homer, but the ’Cats held on for the 6-5 victory over the Bulldogs.

“We knew Truman was going to have big hitters so we had to try and compete with them offensively,” said Hix.

The ’Cats turned around to face Truman again, and the Bulldogs showed just how strong their offense was, taking a 1-0 lead in the first and producing five runs in the second on three hits, benefitting from a WSC error to take a 6-0 lead.

“They came out hot and everything fell in their favor,” said Hix.

Truman added two more runs in the fourth resulting in an 8-0 Bulldog lead; however, the ’Cats avoided the shutout in the fifth inning when Hix doubled down the right field line and scored on a ground out from senior Jordyn Breitbarth.

The Bulldogs ended the game in the bottom of the fifth with one run to finish the game on the eight-run rule 9-1.

The Wildcats then travelled to St. Joseph to face Missouri Western and Washburn in the Hy-Vee Classic.

Missouri Western scored 10 runs in the first inning as the Griffons grabbed the 18-2 win over the ’Cats.

WSC scored both of its runs in the second inning as junior Baylee Rial was hit by a pitch and scored on a Breitbarth sacrifice fly followed by a Wobken RBI single that brought home freshman Ashley Hernandez.

“We started out flat and couldn’t find ourselves. It just wasn’t our day,” said Hix. “We need to come out more confident and know that we are more than capable of winning.”

The Wildcats faced Washburn next. Washburn finished out the game with a 6-3 victory over the Wildcats.

The Ichabods built a 5-0 lead with single runs in the first and third innings followed by three runs in the top of the fifth.

WSC scored all three of their runs in the bottom of the fifth on a three-run home run to center field from junior Alyx Hagen that scored Wobken and junior Emily Chandler.

Washburn scored its final run in the top of the seventh inning to finish the game with the 6-3 victory.

“We hung on with Washburn for a while and our energy was a ton better,” said Hix. “Our bats did well, but in the end they just outplayed us.”

WSC then faced Northwest Missouri State in Maryville, Missouri.

Wayne State scored two runs in the second on an RBI double down the right field line from Hix and from a Hernandez run-scoring single.

The Bearcats came up with six runs in the bottom of the fourth on four hits and two Wildcat errors to take a 6-2 lead, but the ’Cats followed up with four runs of their own to tie the score at 6-6 in the top of the fifth. The big hit of the rally was a two-run home run by Hix followed by an RBI single from Chandler.

NMSU didn’t stop there though, breaking the tie in the bottom of the fifth with two runs for an 8-6 lead, and later adding five runs in the bottom of the sixth for the 13-6 victory over the ’Cats.

Next, Wayne State saw Central Missouri. The Wildcats got on the board right away in the first inning as Wobken had an infield single to shortstop followed by a two-run homer to left-center field by Hagen to give WSC the 2-0 lead.

Central Missouri tied the score at 2-2 with a pair of runs in the third, but WSC regained the lead in the fifth at 3-2 on a Breitbarth solo home run.

The Jennies tied the score again at 3-3 with one run in the bottom of the sixth to force extra innings.

After WSC went down in order in the top of the eighth, Central Missouri had their runner placed at second base and the first batter of the inning reached on a Wildcat error on a sacrifice bunt allowing the winning run from second to score, giving the Jennies the 4-3 extra inning win.

The Wildcats contests against the University of Nebraska-Kearney have been postponed, so the ’Cats are now preparing to face Augustana for their home opener.

“We need to come out hot and know that we can compete,” said Hix. “We’re excited to get on our field.”

Wayne State will face the Vikings in a 2 p.m. and a 4 p.m. contest on Tuesday in Wayne.