NORMAL, Ill. – No. 7 Missouri State rallied to defeat the sixth seeded Drake University softball team, 2-1, Thursday afternoon in the opening round of the 2017 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament at Marian Kneer Stadium.
 
Missouri State (23-25) junior pitcher Holly Kelley tossed a no-hitter with one unearned run allowed with two walks and two strikeouts. Senior Mary Stephens had the deciding hit, a two-run double in the fifth inning, to complete the rally and send the Bears to Friday's quarterfinals, where they will play No. 3 seed, Southern Illinois at 1:30 p.m.
 
Drake (28-27) junior pitcher Kailee Smith (Murrieta, Calif.) took the tough loss to end the season with a 18-17 record. Smith pitched seven innings and allowed two runs on four hits with three walks.
 
Drake capitalized on an error by Missouri State in the bottom of the second inning to score the game's first run with one out. After junior Tasha Alexander (Eddyville, Iowa) was hit by a pitch and sophomore Kennedy Frank (Chesterfield, Mo.) drew a walk, senior Kaitlyn Finneran (Morrison, Ill.) hit a sharp grounder to Bears third baseman, Bethany Sullinger, who threw the ball wide of her covering shortstop, Elena Gambill as the ball went out to left field and allowed Alexander to score. The Bulldogs had runners on second and third base with one out after Alexander scored. However, they couldn't capitalize as the next two hits were retired.
 
Missouri State took the lead with zero outs in the top of the fifth inning. Smith allowed back-to-back singles and Stephens drove both in with a ball that was hit just over the reach of Finneran in right field for a double as Stephens took third on the throw home. Smith dug in and retired the next three Bears on groundouts.
 
After Kelley allowed a one-out walk to senior Megan Sowa (Gurnee, Ill.) in the third inning, she retired the final 14 hitters of the game. Major credit goes to her defense for keeping the no-hitter. Alexander was robbed of at least a double in the fifth inning as Bears centerfielder Erika Velasquez Zimmer made a tremendous running catch of a deep ball at the center field fence. In the sixth inning, Sowa hit a rocket but Gambill made a great diving catch.