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The 2022 Ohio Valley Conference Softball Championship continues on Thursday with four games.
The Championship is being held for the 28th time in 2022 and for the sixth year at Choccolocco Park in Oxford, Alabama. Tickets for the event are $10 per person per day (ages 12 and up) or $25 for an all-session pass for the entire event. Children 6-12 are $5 per day as are college students with a valid ID. Parking is $5 per day.
The entire event will be streamed on ESPN+.
Game 5: #2 Belmont 6, #3 UT Martin 2
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Game 6: #1 Murray State 3, #4 Southeast Missouri 1 (12)
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Game 7: #3 UT Martin 7, #8 SIUE 2 (10)
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Game 8: #4 Southeast Missouri 6, #6 Tennessee Tech 5
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#2 BELMONT 6, #3 UT MARTIN 2
OXFORD, Ala. -Belmont University Softball has secured themselves a spot in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament semifinals with a spectacular win over the third seed UT Martin. The Bruins were on today, a true team win, they posted 7 hits to earn 6 runs to defeat the Skyhawks 6-2.
The Bruins got after it early today to get an edge over the Skyhawks. Emma Summers pitched a 3 up 3 down inning to get the momentum going and the confidence flowing. Leadoff hitter, Cheyenne Cavanaugh got herself a base on a single to left field, her speed advanced her to third during the next two at bats. Emily Cockrill up for the Bruins, a single on the ground ripped past the Skyhawks shortstop to bring Cavanaugh home.
Both teams retired three batters in a row in the second and the third innings.
The Skyhawks equalized the game in the fourth, Shyenne Sheffield reached on a fielder's choice getting teammate Paige Clark out at second. Sheffield was brought home by a single up the middle from Kaitlin Kelley.
The draw between the Bruins and the Skyhawks did not last long, Cockrill showed out with a solo homerun to take the lead, 2-1.
Emma Barnes reached on a single straight to second base, her impressive speed gave her the base to lead off the Bruins. Belmont was unable to bring her home in the fifth.
The Bruins were hot in the sixth, Kristen Green laced a triple to right center just missing the wall, she was brought home shortly by an Abi Ledbetter single to advance the lead. A fielding error gave Gabrielle Givers a base and Ledbetter a run to her name. A single from Emma Barnes brought home Cockrill to go up 6-1 in the sixth.
A valiant effort by the Skyhawks in the seventh, a lead off homerun from Kaitlin Kelley was the final time the Skyhawks would score in today's matchup. Two on, two outs, Summers struck out the final batter to secure the win for the Bruins.
#1 MURRAY STATE 3, #4 SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 1
OXFORD, Ala. - Gracie Osbron hit a walk-off homerun in the bottom of the 12th inning to propel the Murray State softball team into the OVC tournament semifinals with a 3-1 win over Southeast Missouri at Choccolocco Park in Oxford, Alabama.
The game started as a pitcher’s duel between the Racers’ Hannah James and Southeast Missouri’s Rachel Rook. Both pitchers went 9.0 innings in the game and allowed one run on four hits, with James striking out 10 and Rook striking out 14.
After eight scoreless innings, the Redhawks finally broke the deadlock with a sacrifice fly from Aubrie Shore that made it 1-0. The damage, however, could have been much worse if not for Jensen Striegel reaching over the centerfield fence to make the out and limit the scoring to just one run.
In the bottom of the ninth, Lindsey Carroll tied the game with the swing of the bat by leading off the inning with a solo homerun, her sixth of the season.
In the bottom of the 12th, Striegel got on base with a one-out bunt single to put the winning run at first. Two batters later with two out, Osbron ended the game with a no-doubter over the wall in right center field.
At 12 innings, the game tied the record for the longest in OVC tournament history. The only other game in tournament history to reach 12 innings was between Eastern Illinois and Southeast Missouri in 2015, a game won by the Panthers, 10-9.
The victory also marked the first OVC tournament win for the Racers since a win over UT Martin in 2016.
The Racers return to action at Choccolocco Park Friday at 1:30 p.m. against Belmont with a trip to the OVC title game on the line.
#3 UT MARTIN 7, #8 SIUE 2
OXFORD, Ala. - The University of Tennessee at Martin softball team kept its season alive on Thursday by scoring five runs in the 10th inning of a winner-or-go-home matchup in the Ohio Valley Conference Softball Championship to propel the squad to a 7-2 win over SIUE.
The Skyhawks (34-18) extended their season by at least another day after playing in its longest extra innings contest in the program’s OVC tournament history. UT Martin rebounded nicely from its setback earlier in the day by jumping out to an early lead with a run in the first inning on an RBI single by Kaitlyn Kelley and another in the fifth as Anna Blanton scored on a squeeze play to take a 2-0 advantage into the sixth.
SIUE (19-35) kept fighting however, stringing together three consecutive baserunners in the sixth inning with two outs on the board. Bailey Concatto worked a nine-pitch walk to start the rally before Lexi King singled up the middle to keep the momentum rolling before a near baserunning gaffe ran the Cougars out of the inning. After the dust settled with both runners remaining on the bags with two outs, Lauryn Yslava came through in the clutch by stroking a two-run double into the right center gap to tie the contest.
The margin would remain the same until the top of the 10th when the Skyhawks found their mojo while capitalizing on several Cougar miscues. The inning began with Maddi Long reaching via an error before Avry Blume laced a double to center to put a pair of runners in scoring position. Back-to-back walks to Emily Gilstrap and Paige Clark brought the go-ahead run into score before a third straight walk gave the Skyhawks a two-run advantage. Two more defensive errors by the Cougars allowed three more runs to cross the plate and give the Skyhawks plenty of cushion with a 7-2 lead.
Going the distance for the Skyhawks in the circle was junior Alexis Groet (14-7) who hurled a career-high 10 innings for the complete game. Along the way she struck out eight Cougars while scattering five hits and allowed two earned runs.
Offensively, five players contributed to the team’s six hits on the day while the squad drew four walks. Katie Dreiling paced the team with two hits in the contest while Clark, Kelley, Blume and Kaci Fuller each tallied RBIs in the victory.
UT Martin will return to action at Choccolocco Park on Friday, May 13 when playing the winner of #4 Southeast Missouri and #6 Tennessee Tech. First pitch is scheduled for 11 a.m. on ESPN+.
#4 SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 6, #6 TENNESSEE TECH 5
OXFORD, Ala. - Kynzie Wrigley's go-ahead single in the bottom of the fourth inning gave #4 Southeast Missouri (29-22) a close 6-5 victory over #6 Tennessee Tech (32-22) in an Ohio Valley Conference Tournament elimination game Thursday night.
SEMO stays alive to play another day moving on to face #3 UT Martin Friday. The Redhawks will have a quick turnaround heading into the early 11 a.m., CT matchup.
Wrigley's fifth hit of the postseason couldn't have come at a better time.
After Abby Buettner hit her second home run, a three-run shot to tie the game in the top of the fourth, Aubrie Shore doubled with one out in the bottom half of the inning. Wrigley stepped in and hit a bloop single to right and pinch-runner scored the go-ahead run.
The Redhawk offense wasted no time going to work against TTU starter Alyssa Arden.
Abigail Rickermann led off with a single and Kaylee Anderson followed with a base hit up the middle. Aubrie Shore and Kynzie Wrigley each reached on a fielder's choice. On Wrigley's play, Rickermann collided with third baseman Carmen Betts on a dive back to the bag. Rickermann left the game with an injury and did not return.
Once play resumed, Paige Halliwill hit into a fielder's choice and an error allowed Shore and Tatum Gerwitz (pinch ran for Rickermann) to score. Chelsy Pena then delivered a two-RBI single and later touched home on a two-out hit by Sydney Dennis putting SEMO ahead, 5-0.
Buettner hit a two-run home run to get TTU on the scoreboard in the top of the second.
Paytience Holman (6-5) earned the first postseason win of her career. Holman worked four innings with six strikeouts. She also gave up five runs on three hits and walked two.
Marisa Davis and Rachel Rook combined for three shutout innings the rest of the way.
Davis pitched a scoreless fifth before Rook struck out two and allowed one hit in two innings to nail down her second save.
SEMO finished with eight hits. Dennis paved the way going 2-for-3 with one RBI. Rickermann, Gerwitz, Anderson, Shore, Wrigley and Halliwill added one hit each.