FRIDAY'S SCORES
SIUE 4, @Eastern Kentucky 1
@Eastern Kentucky 11, SIUE 3 (6)
Eastern Illinois 3, @Morehead State 0
Eastern Illinois 3, @Morehead State 1
Murray State 3, @Tennessee Tech 2
Murray State 2, @Tennessee Tech 0
EASTERN ILLINOIS 3, MOREHEAD STATE 0; EASTERN ILLINOIS 3, MOREHEAD STATE 1
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Eastern Illinois used single runs in the first inning of both games to sweep the Morehead State softball team on Friday afternoon at University Field.
The Panthers took game one, 3-0, and secured the sweep with a 3-1 victory in the nightcap.
The Panthers improved to 15-8 overall and 5-0 in Ohio Valley Conference play, while the Eagles fell to 10-8 and 0-2 in the conference.
Senior pitcher Katie Pfost (5-4) suffered the loss in a complete-game effort in game one. She improved her team-leading strikeout total (60) with six in the game. EIU junior Hannah Mennenga, who fanned eight Eagle hitters, moved to 9-3 with the victory.
Senior designated player Adrena Anderson led MSU with a pair of hits, while fellow senior outfielders Anna Sommer and Elizabeth Wagner each added a hit.
Brooke Owens led the Pahters goint 2-for-3 with a pair of RBI.
EIU outhit the Eagles 7-4 in the contest, and MSU left six runners stranded on the bases.
In the second game of the twinbill, junior pitcher Kelcey McMurray (2-2) absorbed the loss in six innings of work. She surrendered only one earned run, four hits and struck out five. Junior Greta Smeins pitched one relief inning. EIU’s junior pitcher Stephanie Maday earned the complete-game win to move to 6-3. She struck out seven.
The Panthers picked up their runs via a fielding error, single and a double, while the Eagles got their run off an RBI single to right from Anderson in the fifth.
EIU's Bailey O'Dell went 2-for-4 to lead the team.
Senior outfielder Sam Woodall led the Eagles with a pair of hits, and Anderson registered a hit and an RBI.
MURRAY STATE 3, TENNESSEE TECH 2; MURRAY STATE 2, TENNESSEE TECH 0
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - The Murray State softball team extended its OVC win streak to three on Friday when it swept Tennessee Tech in a doubleheader in Cookeville, 3-2 and 2-1.
In game one, the Racers (9-14, 3-1) took an early 2-0 lead in the second when Sarah Anderson hit her third home run of the year. MSU added an insurance run in the top of the fourth when Alexa Becker, who reached on a single, stole home to make it 3-0.
Becker’s run came in handy in the bottom of the inning, when Tennessee Tech (11-13, 0-2) scored two runs of its own. Chanelle Spalding cut the Racer’s lead to one when she singled up the middle and drove in the runners at second and third.
Trailing by one in the bottom of the seventh, the Golden Eagles led off the inning with another single up the middle from Spalding. With two outs, Spalding’s pinch runner Kayla Floyd, eventually moved to third, giving Tennessee Tech a chance to tie the game with one swing of the bat. However, Racer pitcher CheyAnne Gaskey rose to the challenge and struck out her eighth batter of the day to give her team the 3-2 win.
Anderson went 1-for-3 on the day with a run and two RBIs, while Becker also went 1-for-3 with two runs. Casey Castile led the Racers in the hit column in game one by going 2-for-4 with a double. Castile’s double was her ninth of the season, tying her career high from last season.
Gaskey moved to 5-5 on the year with the win after allowing just two runs on four hits with only one walk at eight strikeouts. Taylor Ketchum (7-5) took the loss for the Golden Eagles and finished the game with two earned runs on five hits, two walks and two strikeouts.
Game two remained tied through four complete innings until the Racers finally broke the log jam in the fifth. Shelbey Miller made it 1-0 with a single up the middle to score Morgan Harrell, who also reached on a single.
In the top of the sixth, Becker made it 2-0 when she took one for a ride over the wall in left center. The home run was Becker’s fifth of the season and the 12th of her career, making her fifth all-time in school history.
The Racers outhit the Golden Eagles, 7-5, in the contest, but another key factor in the game was defense. Tennessee Tech committed one error, while Murray State committed none for the second straight game.
Miller finished the game at 2-for-4 with an RBI, while Becker and Anderson each went 2-for-3. Morgan Harrell ended her afternoon at 1-for-3 to round out the seven MSU hits in the contest.
Shelby Kosmecki picked up her fourth win of the season in the game by allowing no runs on five hits with no walks and two strikeouts. Meanwhile, Erica Tuck fell to 0-4 for the Golden Eagles with the loss after allowing one earned run on seven hits with one walk and one strikeout.
SIUE 4, EASTERN KENTUCKY 1; EASTERN KENTUCKY 11, SIUE 3
RICHMOND, Ky. - In its first home OVC action of the season, the Eastern Kentucky University softball team split a pair of games with SIUE. The Colonels dropped game one, 4-1, but responded with an 11-3 win in the second contest.
Eastern is now 17-10 overall and 4-1 in conference play while SIUE is 17-8 and 2-2.
SIUE pitcher Haley Chambers (9-2) was nearly unhittable in game one. The lefty took a no-hitter into the sixth inning. Meanwhile, the Cougars’ Samantha Stanicek hit a three-run homer in the third and Alex McDavid added another long ball one inning later to give SIUE a 4-0 cushion.
Senior Raquel Howes finally broke up the no-hitter with a long home run to right field with one out in the sixth inning. However, Eastern Kentucky only produced one more hit the rest of the contest.
In game two, Howes and junior Christina Ciolek each homered to help the Colonels blow past SIUE, 11-3.
The Cougars scored two in the first, but Howes immediately put EKU on the board with a lead-off home run in the bottom of the inning.
Eastern grabbed its first lead of the day by producing three runs in the third. Sophomore Katie Tackett and freshman Kayla Hobbs each chipped in with RBI hits during the rally.
After adding two unearned runs in the fourth and one more in the fifth, Ciolek ended the game in emphatic fashion with a sixth-inning grand slam to left field. The first baseman finished with a team season-high five RBIs.
Sophomore pitcher Leanna Pittsenbarger (11-5) reached double-figure strikeouts (12) for the fourth time this season while allowing two earned runs in six innings of action.