SATURDAY'S RESULTS
Austin Peay 9, @Belmont 5
Tennessee State 5, @Murray State
@Eastern Illinois 3, Jacksonville State 2
@Eastern Illinois 10, Jacksonville State 0
@SIUE 3, Tennessee Tech 0
@Southeast Missouri 12, Eastern Kentucky 11
Eastern Kentucky 6, @Southeast Missouri 3
@SIUE 3, Tennessee Tech 2
Austin Peay 3, @Belmont 1
@Murray State 7, Tennessee State 1
Morehead State 4, @UT Martin 0
@UT Martin 5, Morehead State 3
AUSTIN PEAY 9, BELMONT 5; AUSITN PEAY 3, BELMONT 1
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Belmont softball team (13-28, 3-15 OVC) was tripped up despite logging great scoring rallies in each game of Saturday's doubleheader with in-state rival Austin Peay (15-22, 6-13 OVC). The Bruins bounced back from a five run deficit in game one before falling down the stretch in eight innings, 9-5, and saw another rally held off in the nightcap before falling 3-1.
APSU opened the contest with a wind aided solo homerun over the right field fence in the top of the first inning but a strong defensive effort by the Bruins held them to just that one run to close out the inning. Belmont hoped to strike back in the bottom of the second but got caught in a rare triple play halting a bases loaded scoring opportunity.
The Lady Govs added a pair of runs in the top of the fourth courtesy of five hits to take a 3-0 lead. BU had another loaded bases chance to get on the board in the bottom of the same but the three runners were stranded as APSU put in serious work to keep the Bruins off the board.
After Austin Peay added two more runs, the Bruins dug in their heels for a massive seventh inning rally to tie the game and force extra innings after hits were recorded by senior Becca Gift (Durham, N.C.), sophomore Kirbie Ferrell (Pasadena, Texas), junior Ashley Hammer (Mt. Juliet, Tenn.) and Hollingsworth smacked her ninth homerun of the season, helping BU knot the game at five runs each.
However, it would be APSU to get the final say on the scoreboard. In the top of the eighth, the Lady Govs were able to load the bases with two outs behind a hit and a pair of walks and used a grand slam by Lauren de Castro to take a 9-5 lead. BU was unable to answer back and fell by the same score.
Game two saw the Bruins jump on the scoreboard first. In the bottom of the second, Hollingsworth reached first base behind a bunt that completely caught the infield off guard. Junior Mia Vierra (Palmdale, Calif.) reached on four balls and a single by freshman Jordan Daly (Humble, Texas) sent a teammate over the plate to put BU on top 1-0.
Belmont held on to its one-run lead until the top of the seventh inning when Austin Peay put together a strong rally, taking advantage of a pair of Bruin errors to score three runs. The Bruins battled to answer back in their half of the inning but stranded a runner en route to falling, 3-1.
For the day, Hollingsworth batted .714 with five hits, a double, a homerun and two RBI. Daly went .500 at the plate with an RBI while Gift hit .400 with two hits, including a double.
Inside the circle, four Bruins saw time, led by junior Brittanie Albright's (Franklin, Tenn.) complete game two. Vierra threw four innings, freshman Taylor Moon (Vestavia, Ala.) tossed three and rookie Carolyn Snodgress (Torrance, Calif.) saw one inning of work.
TENNESSEE STATE 5, MURRAY STATE 3; MURRAY STATE 7, TENNESSEE STATE 1
MURRAY, Ky. - Tennessee State used a big sixth inning to rally and top the Murray State softball team, 5-3, in game one of Saturday’s doubleheader at Central Park, but the Racers kicked their offense into overdrive and took game two, 7-1.
In the first game, the Tigers (13-30, 3-13) struck first in the top of the third when Brianna Roberts doubled down the right field line to start the inning. Two batters later, Roberts was brought home by Tayler Shimizu with a RBI groundout to make it 1-0 Tennessee State.
In the fourth, the Racers (18-23, 9-9) used an RBI single from Ellyn Troup that scored Alexa Becker and a long fly ball from Leslie Bridges that scored Casey Castile to take a 2-1 lead. MSU pushed the lead out to 3-1 in the fifth when a single to left field from Mo Ramsey allowed Shelbey Miller to cross the plate.
However, the Tigers’ bats came alive in the sixth and it started with back-to-back doubles from Jennifer Givens and Kiarra Freeman. Kacie Daugherty tied the game at three in the next at bat when she joined the party and hit a double of her own. The game would not be tied for long, as two batters later Lindsey Burgess sent one just over the wall in left field to make it 5-3.
Tiger pitcher Shea Morris helped close out the game for her team as after the Ramsey hit in the fifth, she went on to retire the next seven Racers in order. The win moved her to 8-16 on the year, as she went the full seven innings and allowed three runs on six hits with nine strikeouts and a walk.
Despite the loss, Shelbey Miller had a career game as she went 3-for-3 with a run and two doubles. The three hits and two doubles were both career highs for Miller. Freeman led TSU in the contest by going 3-for-3, while Givens and Burgess followed at 2-for-3.
Kosmecki took the loss for Murray State in game one and fell to 6-16 on the year. She finished the game with five runs on nine hits with five strikeouts and a walk.
In game two, Tennessee State once again outhit the Racers in the contest, this time by a margin of 8-4. The difference, however, was Murray State’s ability to take the Tigers’ two errors, six walks and four hit batters and convert them into runs.
The Racers opened up the flood gates in the third when they scored four runs on just two hits. Christian Cox was first to cross the plate in the frame when she did so on an error during Miller’s at bat and was followed by Miller who scored on a RBI ground out from Becker. In the next at bat, Castile made it 4-0 when she scored herself and Ramsey with her seventh long ball of the season.
Murray State made it 5-0 in the fourth when Christian Cox was hit by TSU’s Olivia Gamache with the bases loaded. In the fifth, MSU added two more runs on an RBI single from Sarah Anderson and another error by the Tigers that allowed Leslie Bridges to score.
Daughtery cut the lead to 7-1 with two outs in the seventh when she hit a RBI single that drove in Givens. However, that would be as close as TSU would get as Murray State pitcher CheyAnne Gaskey struck out Burgess in the next at bat to end the game.
Gaskey’s strikeout of Burgess gave her 10 for the game, marking just the fourth time in school history a Racer has fanned 10 or more batters in one contest. The game is Gaskey’s second 10-plus strikeout performance of the season, as she struck out a school-record 14 against Saint Louis in February. She finished the game with just one run on eight hits and only two walks to move to 11-6 on the year.
Sarah Anderson led Murray State in the game by going 2-for-3 with a RBI. Christian Cox went 1-for-1 in the contest with a run and a RBI, but reached base in each of her other plate appearances on q walk and a hit by pitch.
Daugherty and Audrey Sensing led TSU in game two by tallying two hits each, with Daugherty also recording a RBI and a walk. Gamache fell to 4-15 with the loss after she gave up two earned runs on four hits over six complete innings.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 3, JACKSONVILLE STATE 2; EASTERN ILLINOIS 10, JACKSONVILLE STATE 0
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Off a career-high 16 Ks, junior pitcher Hanna Mennenga set a new single-season Eastern Illinois strikeout mark, as the Panthers swept visiting Ohio Valley Conference arch-rival Jacksonville State, 3-2 and 10-0 (5-inn.), on Saturday (April 20) afternoon at Williams Field.
The clean sweep of JSU helps Eastern remain all alone in first place in the league standings behind a 30-11 overall record and 17-2 conference mark, while the perennial OVC power Gamecocks fall to 24-21/9-9.
The two convincing wins marks the first EIU regular-season sweep of JSU since 2010 as the Panthers pull to within 23-10 in the all-time series history.
Heading into the weekend series, Mennenga needed just 13 Ks to set a new EIU single-season tally, as she registered her third 16 K performance of the year in the first game 3-2 victory, striking out all but one Gamecock batter at least once.
She now owns 253 punchouts this season to top the previous high of 249 set by former Panther standout Zam Mogill (1985-88) way back in 1986, while moving to an impressive 20-4 in the circle.
In the 10-0 second game rout, classmate Stephanie Maday improved her season win tally to 10-4 with her own complete game shutout of JSU as she held the Gamecocks to just two hits while fanning six batters of her own.
For the day, the junior pitching duo held one of the top OVC hitting squads to a low .163 combined average at the plate, as each surrendered just one walk and two earned runs.
Junior Brooke Owens finished with a 3-for-5 day at the plate, including nailing her sixth home run of the season and adding an RBI double for the first game win before adding another RBI single in the second game blowout.
Junior Carly Willert and sophomore Hannah Cole added three hits of their own in the twinbill, as Cole finished with a team-high five RBIs, while Willert delivered her first triple of the season and went a perfect 2-for-2 in stolen bases.
Eight different Panthers actually earned at least one hit on the day as the Panthers earned the advantage over the Gamecocks in batting (.370-to-.163), runs (13-to-2), hits (17-to-7), doubles (5-to-0), RBI (13-to-2), total bases (27-to-10), and errors (0-to-3).
Pitching-wise, the EIU staff finished with a combined 1.17 ERA on the day, as compared to a 5.60 mark for JSU, as the Panthers finished with 22 total strikeouts, to only seven for the Gamecocks, while JSU also had three walks and four hit-by-pitches.
In the first game, Eastern plated single runs in the second, third and fifth frames to take the 3-0 lead into the seventh inning.
Newcomer Haylee Beck plated sophomore Bailey O'Dell in the bottom of the second off an RBI single to the JSU shortstop that took a wild bounce, meanwhile Owens nailed an RBI double to left center to bring home Willert in the third before adding a solo bomb to left center in the fifth.
Mennenga went just once pitch shy of a complete game shutout of JSU, as Kelci Johnston drilled a two-RBI bomb in the top of the seventh to make things interesting late in the first game, but consecutive strikeouts would secure the Panther win.
In the nightcap rout, EIU erupted for a season-high nine runs in the first frame thanks to seven hits, three hits-by-pitch, and a JSU error. Cole earned five RBIs all on her own off two at-bats -- a single and double -- to bring home Willert and senior Melise Brown twice, and Beck once.
O'Dell and junior Reynae Hutchinson added their own RBI single and double, respectively, while senior Abby Wood nailed her own double, eventually touching home plate via a JSU error off Willert's bat.
Another Owens RBI in the third inning would score Cole to account for the final Panther score as EIU earned the squad's first-ever mercy-rule victory over JSU during the series history.
Jacksonville State's Tiffany Harbin entered the day just one strikeout shy of Ann Shelton's career record, which was set in 1995-96, and she took over the new mark with the first two outs of the first inning. The Hazel Green, Ala., native then suffered a tough-luck loss in a complete-game 3-2 defeat.
SIUE 3, TENNESSEE TECH 0; SIUE 3, TENNESSEE TECH 2
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - SIUE softball guaranteed its spot in next month's Ohio Valley Conference Tournament with a sweep Saturday over Tennessee Tech at Cougar Field.
SIUE defeated visiting Tennessee Tech 3-0 and 3-2 to improve to 33-8 overall and 16-2 in the OVC. The Cougars extended their winning streak to 16 games, the third longest streak in Division I softball.
The top eight teams advance to the OVC Tournament May 9-11 which will be hosted by the No. 1 seed. It will be SIUE's second trip to the conference tourney. Now the Cougars are battling for the best possible seed and are one-half game behind Eastern Illinois for the best OVC record.
The Golden Eagles, now 19-23 overall and 8-8 in the OVC, certainly didn't hand anything to the Cougars.
SIUE pitcher Erin Greenwalt picked up her 10th victory of the season in the nightcap. She scattered eight hits and struck out three.
The Cougars grabbed a 2-1 lead after Riggs' homer and added what turned out to be the game winner in the fifth.
Rebecca Gray doubled to right field to start the inning. After Chelsea Yankolovich bunted her over to third, Taylor Tooley put down a perfect bunt. Her squeeze bunt resulted in not only a run but also an infield single.
Greenwalt outdueled Golden Eagles pitcher Claudia Harke, now 5-8.
In the opener, Haley Chambers threw her sixth shutout of the season with a two-hitter. Chambers matched her season high with 13 strikeouts. She previously fanned 13 against SIU Carbondale in a 12-inning game.
Chambers has now won 16 consecutive decisions and improved to 18-2. She is now tied for fourth all-time in victories by a freshman with Michelle Cox (1990) and Montgomery (1982). The all-time record is 24 by Becki Saylor in 1980.
The Cougar offense consisted solely of solo home runs in Saturday's opener.
Tooley got the Cougars started in the first inning with her fourth home run of the season. She is now tied for fourth all-time with 19 career home runs, even with Alicia DeShasier (2003-2006).
SIUE's final two home runs came in the third inning. Rebecca Gray launched her first of the season. Gray, who bats from the left side, hit it over the fence in right field just in front of the scoreboard in right center.
Alex McDavid added her ninth blast of the season that forced TTU to lift starter Taylor Ketchum, 13-9.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 12, EASTERN KENTUCKY 11; EASTERN KENTUCKY 6, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 4
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Southeast Missouri (13-26, 5-12 OVC) went head-to-head against East division leader, Eastern Kentucky (27-17, 14-5 OVC) Saturday afternoon. Southeast won game one 12-11 in comeback fashion and dropped game two 6-4 after giving up a three run home run in the seventh inning.
Southeast Missouri 12, Eastern Kentucky 11
Leading going into the fifth inning, the Redhawks gave up six runs to fall behind but posted five runs in the sixth to come from behind and nab the win.
The Redhawks took an early three run lead in the first. With bases loaded, Simone Patterson hit a sacrifice fly to score Kaitlin Zink followed by a double by Xia Wilson to score Taylor Cowan and Lindsey Patterson, taking a 3-0 lead.
Southeast added to the lead in the second with a bases loaded single by Cowan to score two and extend the lead to 5-0.
EKU chipped away at the Redhawk lead in the fourth. Lauren Mitchell and Christina Ciolek scored unearned runs on a Redhawk error.
The Colonels scored again on a fielder's choice to narrow the lead to 5-3.
Southeast got two of the three runs back in the bottom of the inning with a big home run to left off the bat of Wilson, her first of the season; 7-3 Redhawks.
Eastern Kentucky posted six runs in the fifth to take the lead. The Colonel scoring started with an RBI single by Melissa Costa.
Kayla Joyce reached base on a Redhawk error, scoring Mitchell followed by a bases loaded walk. EKU pulled ahead with a bases loaded double from Raquel Howes to score all three runners, 9-7 Colonels.
EKU added to the lead in the sixth on a bases loaded single by Joyce to score two runs, extending the lead to 11-7.
The Redhawks strung together five runs in the bottom of the sixth to retake the lead. It all started off with Wilson's fifth RBI of the day on a bases loaded single, scoring L. Patterson. Pinch hitter Jamie Woodworth drove Cowan in with a single to right. Pitcher Hannah Clemons threaded her first career RBI hit up the middle to plate two runners and tie the game. Alexis Anderson drove in the go-ahead run on a groundout, scoring Leah Becker, 12-11 Redhawks.
Clemons sent the Colonels down in order in the seventh to preserve the lead and earn the victory.
The Redhawks outhit EKU 13-10.
Wilson went 3-for-4 with a career-high five RBI. Anderson, L. Patterson, and Cowan all recorded two hits in the game. Cowan and Clemons had two RBI. L. Patterson tied a career-high with three runs scored in the contest.
Katie Tackett, Joyce, and Costa all had two hits in game one. Howes went 1-for-5 with three RBI.
Clemons (4-5) earned the victory in part to her two-RBI single. Clemons pitched 2.0 innings giving up one run on three hits. Game one's starter, Cowan, pitched 5.0 innings, giving up 10 runs, only two of which were earned.
Relief pitcher Hannah Driver (0-1) suffered the loss after giving up five runs to the Redhawks, allowing them to regain the lead in the sixth.
Eastern Kentucky 6, Southeast Missouri 4
The Colonels got on the board first with a two-RBI triple by Costa followed by an RBI groundout to score Costa, 3-0 EKU.
The Redhawks took the lead in the third. Anderson got the scoring going with an RBI double to score Becker. With bases loaded, Cowan hit a blooper to left, scoring Zink and Anderson to tie the game. L. Patterson scored the go-ahead run on a single from S. Patterson, 4-3 Redhawks after three.
The lead changed yet again in the top of the seventh with a three-run home run by Sarah Fobbs, 6-4 EKU, sending the game to the bottom of the seventh.
Woodworth pinch hit and came up with a critical hit yet again with a lead-off double to put a runner on for the Redhawks. However, the Colonels were able to keep the Redhawks from scoring to earn the doubleheader split.
Southeast was outhit 9-6 in the nightcap.
Anderson led the Redhawk offense with a 2-for-4 game, finishing the day 4-for-8 with two RBI. Cowan finished the day 3-for-5 with four RBI.
Joyce and Ciolek each had a 2-for-4 game. The game hero, Fobbs, went 1-for-2 with three RBI.
Clemons pitched her second complete game of her career, giving up six runs on nine hits.
Reliever Shaylon Robbs (8-8) earned the victory, giving up no runs in 3.0 innings. Starter Leanna Pittenbarger pitched 4.0 innings giving up three earned runs while striking out eight Redhawk batters.
MOREHEAD STATE 4, UT MARTIN 0; UT MARTIN 5, MOREHEAD STATE 3
MARTIN, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Martin softball team used five runs in the fourth inning to propel the host Skyhawks to a 5-3 victory, earning an Ohio Valley Conference series split with Morehead State. Deven Wilson’s first career home run proved to be all that head coach Donley Canary needed to notch career win No. 400.
Game One: Morehead State 4, UT Martin 0
The Skyhawks (30-13, 11-7 OVC) couldn’t muster enough hits to get past the powerful left hand of Morehead’s Katie Pfost. Morehead State began the game with a bang, quickly lacing a lead-off triple into right center. Sam Woodall then singled through the right side to score Adrena Anderson from third to take the 1-0 lead.
The Skyhawks threatened in the bottom of the sixth as Kayla Wade singled to the right side. Wade then swiped her 26th base of the season, moving into scoring position. Lauren Smith soon walked, placing runners on first and third. The Eagles then extinguished the threat, forcing a popout to end the inning.
The Eagles pushed across three runs in the top of the seventh, resulting in a 4-0 MSU victory.
Sophomore Casey Vincent was hit with the loss in the game, allowing four runs. Vincent registered her 15th complete game while registering seven strikeouts.
Game Two: UT Martin 5, Morehead State 3
Despite being outhit and shutout in the first 10 innings of the day, the Skyhawks rallied to win game two and force the series split with a 5-3 victory. While only tallying three hits in the first game of the twinbill, the Skyhawks quickly found their groove in game two, registering eight hits.
The Skyhawks thought they were in a moment of déjà vu as Morehead State jumped out to a quickly 3-0 lead before quickly changing the momentum of the game.
Leah Taylor led off the bottom of the fourth inning with a five-pitch walk. The senior All-American quickly showed her quick feet, scampering to second base and tallying her 35th steal on the season. Kenzi Tate then capitalized by reaching on an error by the pitcher as Smith followed with a walk to load the bases with no outs. Senior Becca Williams registered her second of three hits in the game, none of which bigger than the bases clearing double into the left field gap, scoring Taylor, Tate and Smith and bringing the game to a 3-3 tie. The Skyhawks would not be done in the inning as freshman Deven Wilson crushed her first career home run over the left field wall and into the protective net covering the scoreboard for the go-ahead two-run home run.
Both the Skyhawks and Eagles would threaten in the later innings, but the game ended with a water shower of coach Canary as the 12th year head coach notched his 400th career victory, 5-3.
In the circle, Tate was credited with her team-best 16th win, while pitching her 14th complete game on the season. Tate allowed just two earned runs and struck out five on the afternoon.