Ohio Valley Conference

EASTERN ILLINOIS 7, TENNESSEE TECH 3
EASTERN ILLINOIS 6, TENNESSEE TECH 0
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Eastern Illinois softball picked up a pair of wins over Tennessee Tech on Saturday afternoon as the Panthers won 7-3 and 6-0 over the Golden Eagles at Williams Field.  EIU improved to 25-20 overall, 16-3 in the OVC.  TTU fell to 15-26 overall, 11-9 in the OVC.

EIU took advantage of two unearned runs and added some late insurance runs to collect the 7-3 game one win.

EIU led 2-0 after the opening inning with TTU coming back to tie the game in the third.   The Panthers runs were driven in by Alisha Frederick and Abbi Hatton.  Jailynn Paderez and Ashley Capelouto both drove in the Golden Eagles runs.

In the bottom of the third EIU took advantage of an error in the outfield scoring two unearned runs.  After TTU closed the gap to 4-3 in the fifth on an Ella Bishop RBI single, the Panthers pushed the lead back to two in the bottom of the inning on an RBI single by Lizzie Stiverson.  Stiverson was 3-for-3 in the opener.  

EIU tacked on two insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth on a Peyton Dwigans two run single to left.  

The offense was enough for starter Karlie McKenzie to improve to 6-8 while Bryanna French tossed two scoreless innings for her third save.  Marybeth Dyson joined Stiverson as Panthers with three hits while Frederick and Mo Hance added two hits each.

Emily York (8-12) took the loss for TTU.  The Golden Eagles offense was held to five hits in the game. 

Rylan Gick tossed a complete game shutout and Viola Smith helped provide some of the offensive fire power at EIU won the second game 6-0.

Gick allowed just five hits while striking out seven batters to improve to 10-4 on the season.

Smith put the Panthers on the board in the third inning with the first of her two solo home runs.   Smith has now collected three college hits, all home runs.  Her second home run was a solo shot in the fifth.

Smith opened the offensive flood gates in the third for a five run inning for EIU.  Sophia Olman had an RBI double with Mo Hance delivering a two run single.

Olman, Smith and Chloe Wamboldt all had two hits to lead EIU.

Abbee Klinefelter had two of the five Golden Eagles hits.  Addison Abell (3-3) took the loss in the circle.

LINDENWOOD 7, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 3
LINDENWOOD 5, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 0
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - The Lindenwood Softball team (22-20, 11-9 OVC) swept their doubleheader on the road at SEMO on Saturday to move into the top five of the OVC Standings. The Lions' pitching staff combined to throw 14 innings and allowed just three runs on nine hits while striking out six batters to limit the SEMO offense. 

In game one,after SEMO grabbed a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning on a home run to right field, the Lindenwood offense flexed their muscles in the top of the fourth by putting up five runs. Four of the five runs came off the bat of Kylee Crowder, who hit a no-doubt Grand Slam to left center field to put the Lions in front by a score of 5-2. The other run of the inning came prior to the Crowder grand slam when Tori Hatton collected an RBI single to centerfield that brought home Madisen Noll. The Redhawks would get a run back in the fifth on an RBI double, but Emily Geary gave the Lions two more runs in the top of the sixth on a two-run home run to right field making it a 7-3 game after 5.5 innings played. Ryleigh Owens picked up her seventh win of the season in game one by throwing the first 4.2 innings of the contest. The Senior pitcher allowed three runs on five hits, and Samantha Roulanaitis added her second save of the season by throwing the final 2.1 innings of the game. Roulanaitis entered the game in the bottom of the fifth with the go-ahead run at the plate after SEMO had cut the deficit to two, and ended the SEMO threat by getting the first Redhawk batter she faced to pop out. The Sophomore added two strikeouts in the bottom of the sixth and retired the side in the seventh to help lead the Lions to their 21st win of the season and 10th OVC win. At the plate, Anna Sanders and Hatton each had two hits, while Geary and Crowder combined for six of the team's seven RBI.

In game two, Lindenwood carried their momentum over from game one and put up three runs in the top of the second inning to grab a 3-0 lead. The Lions loaded the bases and scored their first run on an RBI walk from Noll before Hatton drove in two more runs on a two-run single up the middle that scored Teryn Brown and Sadie Sexauer. In the following inning, Brown would pick up an RBI of her own with a sacrifice fly to centerfield that scored Crowder to put the Lions up 4-0 midway through the third inning. Freshman pitcher Ava Risum got the start in the circle for the Lions and was phenomenal, pitching six innings and allowing three hits, no runs, and striking out four. The final dagger for the Lions happened in the top of the seventh when Tori Hatton hit a solo home run to left field to put another run on the board for the Lions and extended the lead to 5-0. Samantha Roulanaitis threw the seventh inning and ended the game by retiring the last two batters she faced after allowing a lead-off single. Offensively, Hatton and Crowder had two hits with Hatton leading the way with three RBI in game two. 

SIUE 7, SOUTHERN INDIANA 2
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Juztyne Torres drove home three runs Saturday as SIUE softball grabbed game one of a three-game series with a 7-2 victory over Southern Indiana.

The two teams return Sunday for a noon doubleheader at Cougar Field. SIUE now stands at 20-24 overall and 11-8 in the Ohio Valley Conference. Southern Indiana dropped to 13-23 overall and 10-9 in the OVC.

Torres lifted the Cougars with a two-run single in SIUE's five-run fourth inning.  She added a sacrifice fly to close out the scoring in the sixth.

Avery Arwood went the distance for the Cougars, running her season record to 7-6. Kylie Witthaus suffered the loss in relief and is now 3-7 for the Screaming Eagles.

SIUE's five-run fourth came after Southern Indiana opened the scoring with two runs in the top of the fourth.

After Betsy Woodward walked, Jesslyn Stairs reached on a sacrifice bunt that was went off the glove of USI second baseman Sydney Long. USI starter Anna Kemp was then lifted from the contest and was replaced by Witthaus.

After Witthaus got a ground ball out, Aidyn Barrera hit the base to second, but Woodward avoided the tag at home to make it 2-1.

Kaylin Fahy drew a walk to load the bases. That allowed Torres to deliver her two-run single. Torres would move up to second as USI's defense tried to catch Fahy rounding third base.

Raegan Duncan drove home two more runs with a single to center field.

SIUE added two more runs in the sixth as Abby Harvell scored on a passed ball. Barrera also would score on the sacrifice fly from Torres.