SATURDAY'S SCORES
Eastern Illinois 6, @Southern Indiana 2
Eastern Illinois 6, @Southern Indiana 1
UT Martin 7, @Tennessee Tech 5
SIUE 5, @Tennessee State 3
SIUE 7, @Tennessee State 2
Lindenwood 10, @Western Illinois 0
Lindenwood 8, @Western Illinois 1
EASTERN ILLINOIS 6, SOUTHERN INDIANA 2
EASTERN ILLINOIS 6, SOUTHERN INDIANA 1
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - Eastern Illinois used the long ball to its advantage in both games on Saturday as the Panthers swept their doubleheader over Southern Indiana at the USI Softball Field. EIU improved to 29-20 overall, 19-3 in the OVC. USI dropped to 13-27 overall, 10-13 in the OVC.
In the series opener Eastern Illinois powered its offensive output in the game courtesy of the long ball as the Panthers hit four home runs in the 6-2 win over Southern Indiana.
Peyton Dwigans started the long ball parade with a solo shot in the second for the Panthers first run of the game. Sophia Olman hit the first of her two home runs in the game in the fourth to put the Panthers in front 2-0.
Kate Satkoski answered for USI in the bottom of the fourth with a two-run double. Satkoski and Ayssa Mumaw both had two hits to pace the Screaming Eagles offense.
In the top of the sixth Olman connected for the second time in the game sending her seventh home run of the season out in left center. Olman was the lone Panther in the game with multiple hits as EIU was held to just six hits in the game.
EIU's pitching combo of Karlie McKenzie and Bryanna French limited USI to just five hits. McKenzie (9-8) pitched through the sixth with French tossing two scoreless innings of relief for her fifth save. Anna Kemp (4-10) took the loss for USI.
Lizzie Stiverson added insurance runs with a two-run homer in the seventh followed by an Abbi Hatton RBI single as EIU extended its lead during its final at-bat.
In game two, Eastern Illinois scored in each of the first four innings of the second game providing all the offense starter Rylan Gick (11-4) would need during the 6-1 win.
Mo Hance delivered an RBI single in the first with Lexie Griffin scoring on a wild pitch in the second for the Panthers opening two runs.
Alisha Frederick cranked out the Panthers fifth home run of the day in the third with a solo shot to right.
Viola Smith, Sophia Olman and Abbi Hatton each drove home runs in the third and fourth innings to stake the Panthers to the early 6-0 lead.
Gick scattered four USI hits with a solo home run by Kate Satkoski breaking up the shutout in the fifth inning. Satkoski and Caroline Stapleton had two hits each to account for the Screaming Eagles offense. Kylie Witthaus (3-9) took the loss in the circle.
Frederick led the Panthers offense with three hits while Lizzie Stiverson added two hits from the lead-off spot.
UT MARTIN 7, TENNESSEE TECH 5
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - – It may have taken a total of six hours and five minutes, including delays, but the University of Tennessee at Martin softball team finally got a 7-5 win in Saturday’s series opener with Tennessee Tech at Tech Softball Field in Cookeville.
Because of the length of Saturday’s game, the two teams will now play a doubleheader Sunday in Cookeville beginning at 12 p.m.
The Skyhawks wasted little time getting on the board Saturday as Kyrsten and Kennedy Brown hit back-to-back RBI fielder’s choices in the top of the first to give UT Martin the early 2-0 lead. However, in the bottom of the first, the Eagles took a 3-2 lead on a sacrifice fly from Abbee Klinefelter and a two-RBI single from Makayli Harris.
In the top of the second, the Skyhawks took the lead right back thanks to Jordyn Hustey and Kyla Harley scoring wild pitches and a RBI-single from Kyrsten Brown. The game stood at 5-2 when the first delay arrived, a one-hour and 25-minute postponement in the top of the fifth.
When the game resumed, the Golden Eagles tied the game in the bottom of the fifth on a two-run home run from Harris, her sixth of the year. However, in the top of the sixth, Kennedy Brown and Ava Scott each came up with an RBI single to give their team the 7-5 lead.
With two outs and a 3-2 count on Avary Makarewicz in the top of the seventh, the game was delayed again, this time for one hour and 50 minutes. When the game resumed, Makarewicz drew a walk, but the inning ended when Karena Recrosio was tagged out at home on a wild pitch.
In the bottom of the seventh, it took Natalie Kreuziger just four batters to retire the Golden Eagles and seal the win for the Skyhawks. Kreuziger improved to 7-4 on the season with the relief win, in which she went 3.0 innings and allowed no runs on two hits with three strikeouts.
Harley, Ava Scott, and Carly Ward each had two hits on the day, while Harley also tied a career-high by scoring three runs. Makarewicz tied a career-high of her own Saturday by walking three times in the game.
SIUE 5, TENNESSEE STATE 3
SIUE 7, TENNESSEE STATE 2
NASHVILLE - SIUE softball swept a doubleheader Saturday at Tennessee State, defeating the Tigers 5-3 and 7-2.
The two teams will play one more game in the series Sunday at 1 p.m.
SIUE upped its record to 24-25 overall and 15-8 in the Ohio Valley Conference. Tennessee State dropped to 2-35 overall and 2-22 in the OVC.
In game one, SIUE right-hander Avery Arwood allowed three hits for her ninth victory of the season.
TSU scored twice in the first inning and held the lead until the fifth. The Cougars scored twice on a Ashley Duran sacrifice fly in the third inning. Abby Harvell would put the Cougars ahead in the fifth with an RBI double that brought home Raegan Duncan.
SIUE added a single tally in the sixth on a TSU error as Juztyne Torres put the ball in play, Elle van Breusegen scored on the play. The Cougars added an extra run in the seventh as Betsy Woodward singled home Gretchen Trello.
The Cougars finished with nine hits, led by three from Kaylin Fahy.
In game two, SIUE collected a season-high 13 hits and scored in five different innings.
Harvell led the charge with a two-run double in the first inning. Woodward then drove Woodward home with a single.
The Cougars added single tallies in the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh innings.
Torres collected a team-leading three hits in the game. SIUE also had two hits each from Trello, Harvell, Woodward and Fahy.
SIUE's Mia Volpert earned the victory in 4 2/3 innings of work. She struck out four. Kiana Villa tossed the final 2 1/3 innings and yielded just one hit.
LINDENWOOD 10, WESTERN ILLINOIS 0
LINDENWOOD 8, WESTERN ILLINOIS 1
MACOMB, Ill. - The Lindenwood Softball team (25-21, 14-9 OVC) defeated Western Illinois twice on Saturday afternoon in their OVC doubleheader with a 10-0 shutout win in Game one and an 8-1 win in Game Two. The Lions were led offensively by Jolie McMinn who drove in a team-high six RBI and went 4-6 from the plate across two games played.
In game one, The Lions got on the board first in the top of the first inning behind a McMinn single down the left field line that scored Tori Hatton to put Lindenwood up 1-0. Ava Riusm would then strike out four across the next two innings to keep the Leathernecks off the board through three innings of play. The Lions would add on to their lead in the top of the fifth inning when they scored five runs behind behind RBI doubles from Anna Sanders and Dallis Darnell and a McMinn two run single to make it a 6-0 lead. Samantha Roulananitis pitched the final three innings of the game and allowed one hit and one strikeout to pick up her sixth win of the season while allowing just three base runners. The Lions would continue to pour on in the top of the sixth inning by scoring four runs behind a Kylee Crowder two run double to left field and McMinn's fourth RBI of the game with a sac fly to make it 9-0. The final run of the game happened later in the inning when Izzy Wilcox singled to center to make it a 10-0 ball game. The Lions collected 13 hits for the game and were led by Madisen Noll, Sanders, Corwder, and Darnell who each had two hits in the game.
McMinn carried her momentum into game two by driving in two runs in the top of the first with a single to right field to put the Lions in front 2-0. Madisen Noll extended the lead to 3-0 in the top of the second on an RBI groundout, and in the fourth Crowder collected her third and fourth RBI of the day with a two run triple to left center field to put Lindenwood up 5-0. One inning later, Madison Adams ht her first career home run on a solo home run to left field to drive in the Lions six run of the game, and in the seventh, Karter Skillman and Teryn Brown drove in the seventh and eighth runs of the game as Lindenwood went on to win their fourth OVC doubleheader sweep of the season. Ryleigh Owens added her team-leading eighth win of the season behind six innings where she allowed nine hits and no earned runs as she tied her season-high for strikeouts with five.