After a rough start to the season, Missouri Southern’s softball team found its stride during a six-game home stand, taking four of six games from conference opponents.

The four wins weren’t the only highlight of the past week for the Lions, however. Senior first baseman Dawn Grass hit the 27th home run of her career in Sunday’s game against Washburn, propelling her into first place on the all-time home run list at Southern.

While the record puts her name in the history books at Southern, Grass has been quick to play it off.

“The record hasn’t been in sight for me,” she said. “I’ve just been focusing on being a better hitter and hitting in my teammates when they’ve done their job to get on. It is a good feeling, but I see it as my job. A hit is a hit.”

Grass is leading the Lions in several offensive categories this season, including batting average, total bases and runs batted in.

During the successful home stand, the Lions won games by being successful in both hitting and pitching. After beating Lindenwood twice to open up the six-game stretch, Southern split with then-undefeated-in-conference Emporia State.

“We decided to forget about our past performances and focus on that day’s game,” said sophomore pitcher Haley Kinnison. “We came out loose and were having fun, which is what it’s all about.”

In the win, the Lions hitters rallied around Kinnison who had trouble locating her pitches, and scored nine runs to move Kinnison’s win total to eight on the season.

“It was a huge accomplishment for the team and the feeling was great,” said Grass. “We played how we are capable of playing and it speaks a lot for what [we] can do in our remaining games.”

After the series with Emporia State, the Lions moved on to another conference rival, Washburn, and split the series with them.

In the first of the two games against Washburn, the Lions played in their highest scoring game of the year. Despite dropping the game 16-13, the 13 runs tied the team’s season high for runs in a game. The 29 combined runs were the highest combined total by a healthy margin.

After the six-game home stand, Southern travelled to Pittsburg State on Wednesday.

The team had trouble keeping runs off the board in the doubleheader, giving up double-digit run totals in both games.

In the first game, the Lions rallied with seven runs in the last two innings, but still came up short, losing 10-9.

In the second of the two games, Grass did her best to keep the game in reach. She notched four runs batted in and swatted her sixth home run of the season. The Lions fell 11-7, despite Grass’ efforts.

The Lions are now 8-6 at home, but only 2-14 on the road.