By Collin Maclin / Staff Writer

The Missouri Valley College softball team faced off against their rivals, Central Methodist University, in a doubleheader, Wednesday. The first game ended with a score of 7-1 in favor of Missouri Valley, who claimed their first win against Central Methodist since 2019. However, the Vikings fell short in the second game with a final score of 3-1.

Olivia Bettencourt, a member of the team, expressed her joy over the win, stating, “It was a good win because the Vikings haven’t beaten Central Methodist University since 2019. We have beat 3 ranked teams this year, and one of them was Central Methodist. We started off kind of rocky but now we are coming and playing together as a team. I think we are doing well and we are going to finish better than we started.”

Head coach Kelly James echoed Bettencourt’s sentiments, saying, “Great team win the other day. Feel like we needed to beat them because we haven’t in a couple of years. As a team, I think we are doing well on the season, and I think we will be good in the conference with the matchups we have coming up. We also have a lot of big wins this year.”

The Vikings had a 7-3 record heading into the Central Methodist matchup, and with the win and loss on Wednesday, they now sit at an 8-4 record in conference play this season. The team is set to host Evangel University on Friday, with a theme of “purple out,” starting at 2 p.m.

Missouri Valley’s softball team has had an impressive season so far, with multiple wins against ranked teams and a newfound sense of unity among the players. As they continue to work together, the Vikings will look to build on their recent success and make a strong showing in conference play.