PHOTO GALLERY
THURSDAY'S SCORES
#2 Jacksonville State 7, #3 Austin Peay 2
#1 Southeast Missouri 6, #5 Eastern Kentucky 0
#3 Austin Peay 3, #4 Murray State 0
#2 JACKSONVILLE STATE 7, #3 AUSTIN PEAY 2
OXFORD, Ala. - The top home run hitting team in the Ohio Valley Conference used the long ball in its OVC Tournament opener on Thursday, when Jacksonville State blasted Austin Peay 7-2 at Choccolocco Park.
The second-seeded Gamecocks (35-13) hit four home runs and rode a solid start in the circle from Faith Sims to hand the third-seeded Governors (32-21) their first loss of the tournament. JSU advances to Friday's winner's bracket final at 1:30 p.m., when it will face top seeded Southeast Missouri. The game will pit the two regular season co-champions in the league against each other for a spot in Saturday's championship game.
Jax State got home runs from seniors Taylor Beshears, Anna Chisolm and Amber Jones and from freshman Anna Hood to account for all seven runs against the Governors. Beshears' third-inning blast turned a one-run deficit into a one-run lead, while Chisolm's fourth-inning homer allowed the Gamecocks to pull away.
Hood and Jones went back-to-back in the fifth to put the game on ice for Sims just two days after she was named the league's Pitcher of the Year.
Sims (22-4), a senior from Cordova, Ala., went the distance for her 20thcomplete game in 27 starts this season. She limited the Governors offense, which led the OVC in hitting in league games, to two runs on four hits. She struck out five and worked around six walks and a hit batter to win her sixth-straight decision and avenge a loss to Peay on April 5.
Chisolm had two of the team's seven hits off of APSU, who started first team All-OVC pitcher Morgan Rackel. The Gamecocks chased the OVC Pitcher of the Year from 2018 after four innings that saw her allow five runs on four hits, two of which were homers.
The Governors got on the board early against Sims, who walked two and hit a batter with the bases loaded to put the Gamecocks in a 1-0 hole. The run was the first scored against the JSU ace since March 19, snapping a streak of 31 and 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings. It was the first earned run she'd allowed since April 13.
Sims' offense picked her up in the third after threatening with runners in scoring position in each of the first two innings. With Karsen Mosley on second after drawing her second hit by pitch of the game, Beshears went the other way with Rackel's 2-2 pitch and drove it over the wall in right center and put JSU up 2-1. The blast was Beshears' 14thof the season and the 25thof her career, making her the 2th player in school history to reach the 25 home run mark.
That 14thblast of the year gave Beshears the team lead but she wouldn't hold it for long. Chisolm belted a three-run shot to straightaway center in the fourth, tying her for that lead and giving the Gamecocks a 5-1 lead. The homer was Chisolm's 31stof her career, passing Kaycee Crow (2009-12) for eight on JSU's career home runs list.
The Governors got their second run of the game in the top of the fifth on just their second hit of the game. After Bailey Shorter drew a one-out walk, Danielle Liermann drove an RBI double into the gap in left center to cut JSU's lead to three.
JSU got it right back in the home half of the inning, when Hood and Jones welcomed Peay reliever Kelly Mardones with back-to-back to start the inning. Hood pulled one to left center that cut through the wind and easily cleared the wall and then Jones went the other way with the very next pitch. She placed it just over the wall in right, where it dropped from the glove of Rackel's glove in right.
The Govs mounted a threat in the seventh, putting two runners on with one out, but Carly Mattson's line drive up the middle was snagged by Chisolm, who applied the tag on Bailey Shorter as she tried to get back to the bag at second and ended the game
#1 SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 6, #5 EASTERN KENTUCKY 0
OXFORD, Ala. -Haley Thogmartin and Kaylee Anderson combined on a four-hit shutout, Rachel Anderson broke the school's single-season hits record and #1 Southeast Missouri (42-15) used a big four-run first inning to blank #5 Eastern Kentucky (32-19), 6-0, Thursday in Ohio Valley Conference Tournament action.
SEMO gave OVC Coach of the Year Mark Redburn his first OVC Tournament victory as the Redhawks recorded their first shutout in a conference tournament game since 2011 (4-0, vs. Eastern Illinois).
The Redhawks wasted no time jumping all over the Colonels.
SEMO chased EKU starter Bethany Todd immediately after scoring three runs on one hit and drawing two walks in only one-third of an inning. The Redhawks pressured EKU into making a pair of pitching changes before two outs were even recorded in the game.
Mykaela Arellanes led the game off with a walk and moved into scoring position on a wild pitch. Rachel Anderson singled up the middle and Arellanes scored. Anderson's hit marked her 74th of the season setting a new single-season hits record for the Redhawks.
First-Team All-OVC pick Ashley Ellis followed with a walk before Addison Barnouski greeted EKU reliever Peyton Hutchens with a single to bring home R. Anderson. On the next play, K. Anderson ripped a double down the line into the left field corner allowing both Barnouski and Ellis to score, giving SEMO a 4-0 advantage. SEMO sent 10 hitters to the plate in its huge first inning.
The Redhawks tacked on another run in the second inning and another in the third to complete their 14th shutout victory of 2019.
Claudia Gallo, a Second-Team All-OVC selection, walked and made it to third with the help of a sacrifice bunt by R. Anderson and single by Ellis. Ellis was then caught up in a rundown attempting to steal and Gallo crossed home plate in the second.
Sarah Messex reached on a one-out walk in the third inning and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Arellanes drove in Messex on a single to right widening SEMO's lead to 6-0.
Thogmartin (20-6), who made her 28th start in the circle, became the first 20-win pitcher in the Redhawks NCAA Division I era. She bounced back from an ankle injury she suffered in SEMO's regular-season finale against Morehead State to pitch a brilliant game six days later.
A First-Team All-OVC selection, Thogmartin retired the first seven hitters she faced and tossed a no-hitter through the first 2.1 innings. She worked 4.2 innings allowing just three hits, while striking out four and walking one.
K. Anderson relieved Thogmartin with two outs and a runner on second in the fifth inning. She struck out Sammi Miller to end the frame. K. Anderson struck out three and gave up one hit in 2.1 solid innings out of the bullpen.
Defensively, the OVC's top fielding team was outstanding behind Thogmartin and K. Anderson. OVC Player of the Year R. Anderson made a diving catch in center field and Arellanes hung on for a great catch in foul territory after running into the padded brick wall along the first base side for a couple of highlight reel plays.
SEMO outhit EKU, 8-4, with each of the first six hitters in the Redhawks lineup getting a hit. Arellanes, Gallo, R. Anderson, Ellis and Barnouski all hit safely and scored. Barnouski paved the way by going 2-for-3. Messex added a hit and scored as well.
The Redhawks won their fifth-straight game and picked up their seventh win in eight contests. SEMO defeated the Colonels for the third time this season. The win was also SEMO's third in its OVC Tournament history against EKU.
SEMO moves on to face #2 Jacksonville State Friday at 1:30 p.m., CT. The tournament's top two seeds meet again after splitting a doubleheader on Apr. 28.
#3 AUSTIN PEAY 3, #4 MURRAY STATE 0
OXFORD, Ala. - After being held to just one hits over the first five innings versus the Racers (26-27), the Govs exploded for three runs in the bottom of the sixth innings to break-up the scoreless pitcher's duel.
Brooke Pfefferle would start the sixth inning off by being hit by a pitch, ending a string of 15 straight outs by the Govs.
She would be followed by Drew Dudley, who hammered a ball to the fence in right-center field for a double and scoring Pfefferle all the way around for first for a 1-0 lead.
After Dudley was lifted for pinch runner Katie Keen, Kacy Acree blasted a ball to center field for a triple, scoring Keen, and giving the Govs a 2-0 lead.
After a Shorter walk, Liermann would drive in Acree with a groundout for a 3-0 advantage.
Those three runs were more than enough for Rackel, as she set the Racers down in order in the seventh for her sixth shutout of the season, limiting Murray State to five hits, while striking out eight.