Spring break was not as kind to the Lions’ softball team as it is to most students.

Missouri Southern went 2-4 over the break at the MIAA crossover in Springfield, Mo.

Southern [13-11] started the trip with a tough 8-0 loss to Northwest Missouri State, but turned it around quickly with a 13-0 win over Truman.

Natalie Nelson had a big performance in the Truman victory as she went 3-4 with four RBI’s and a run scored.  

The Lions would struggle on the second day of the crossover by falling to Washburn 9-7 and then to Nebraska-Omaha by a score of 22-4, but would turn it around on day three and split games with a 2-0 victory over Fort Hays State and a 2-1 loss from Missouri Western.

“Washburn went back and forth. We had a couple miscues in the later innings and they took advantage of it. It was a game we let get away,” Head Coach Bill Gray said. “Games with Fort Hays are going to be good softball games. That’s a good matchup for us. They’ve got a program rebuilding and we’ve got a program rebuilding.”

Dawn Grass hit a two-run home run in the fourth inning to give the Lions the lead in the Fort Hays matchup, and that was all Nicole Reed would need as she turned in a stellar seven-inning performance allowing five hits and striking out nine.

“Dawn is giving us some big RBI’s and home runs,” Gray said. “Everybody, one through 12 has been able to provide offense for us somewhere.”

The Lions will now turn their attention the month of April as they will play 31 games over the course of the month and they start today with a doubleheader matchup with UNO.

The Lions lost to the Mavericks 22-4 in the crossover as they were held to four hits while allowing 22.

“We know when we get into the conference it is going to be tough, and we are still looking at players at different positions to see what the mix needs to be for the next month,” Gray said. “We don’t match up well with Nebraska-Omaha, but we can play better against them and I think we will.”

Game time has been moved back to 3 p.m.

“We’re close. We’ve got to get a couple wins under our belt,” Gray said. “Of those games, 22 of them are conference games. By April 30 we’ll know where we are. Its finding that magic button that we need to push, but I think we’re close.”