TUESDAY'S SCORES
Morehead State 7, @Miami (Ohio) 4
SIUE 5, @Bradley 3
Morehead State 10, @Miami (Ohio) 6
@Jacksonville State 4, Alabama State 3
Eastern Illinois 12, @Illinois 1 (5)
SIUE 5, BRADLEY 3
PEORIA, Ill. - Taylor Tooley's first-inning home run set the pace Tuesday as SIUE softball defeated Bradley 5-3 at Laura Bradley Park.
It was the 11th consecutive win for the Cougars, the longest winning streak since the 2008 season when SIUE strung together 19 in a row.
SIUE, 28-8, now returns home to Cougar Field Wednesday for a single game against Saint Louis. Game time is scheduled for 3 p.m.
Amanda Lambrecht was the winning pitcher for the Cougars. She went the distance, giving up nine hits and striking out two. The senior from Rock Island improved to 5-3.
Lambrecht said her pitches were working well against the Braves. She credited the defense behind her for making some tough plays as well as the Cougar offense for having her pitch with a good lead. Lambrecht also was pleased she did not allow a walk to Bradley.
Tooley put the Cougars ahead 1-0 in the top of the first with her third home run of the season. She sent a 3-2 pitch from losing hurler Mackenzie Camp over the left field fence. Her 18th career homer tied her for fifth all-time with Kasey Schlafke (2008-11).
The Cougars are now 14-2 when scoring in the first inning.
Rachel Coonrod provided three RBIs on the day for the Cougars. After Rebecca Gray scored in the third inning off a wild pitch, Coonrod recorded her 10th double of the season and drove home Chelsea Yankolovich and Tooley to give SIUE a 4-0 lead
Coonrod added her third RBI in the seventh with a single through the left side of the infield that would score Yankolovich, who has now reached base in 23 consecutive games.
Bradley, now 20-15 overall, didn't score until the fourth with consecutive hits by Rachel Huggins, Alyson Clemente, and Kathryn Spenn. Madeline Lynch-Crumrine drove home Bradley's other two runs in the seventh with a single.
The Cougars and the Braves each had nine hits. Coonrod said hitting has been contagious for the team this season.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 12, ILLINOIS 1
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - – Eastern Illinois softball defeated Illinois in a five-inning, 12-1, rout on Tuesday (April 9), to nab the Panthers' first-ever road win at the Illini's Eichelberger Field.
With the win, EIU improves to 26-10 overall, while Illinois drops to 11-22 on the season. Despite the victory, the Panthers still trail Illinois, 2-14, in the all-time series history that dates back to 2001.
The Panthers not only out-scored (12-to-1) and out-hit (12-to-2) the Big Ten power, but junior pitcher Hanna Mennenga fanned 12 of the 21 Illini batters she faced, which helped to improve her yearly strikeout tally to 218. That single-season mark now ranks as the third best total by a Panther in school history.
Sophomore Bailey O'Dell led EIU with a perfect 3-for-3 day at the plate, behind a pair of RBIs, two runs, and three total bases. While junior Reynae Hutchinson upped her career home run mark to 12 all-time thanks to a three-run blast.
Fellow juniors Brooke Owens and Ashleigh Westover each added two RBIs on the afternoon, as Westover went 2-for-3. Senior Ally Seplak and newcomer April Markowski would account for two additional RBIs.
The host squad actually got on the scoreboard first as the Illini used a bases loaded Panther miscue to bring home a run from third. But from that point on, the game belonged to the Panthers as EIU erupted for six runs in the third, four scores in the fourth and two additional tallies in the final fifth frame.
The Panthers would end up rattling Illinois' standout senior pitcher, Pepper Gay, in the third frame as EIU loaded the bases with just one out, thanks to two EIU singles, a stolen base and a walk.
Eastern got on the board via the first of two bases-loaded HBP RBIs by Gay, while O'Dell also earned an RBI base hit and Hutchinson reached on an Illini miscue to score an EIU run.
The Panthers continued the scoring onslaught as Markowski earned an RBI walk, forcing Gay to be replaced in the circle for Illinois with EIU now up, 5-1, but her Illini reliever would immediate allow another bases-loaded RBI walk by Seplak.
In the fourth inning, EIU tacked on four more runs with two outs, as Westover got things going off an RBI single to right field to plate Cole. Hutchinson then stepped up and blasted a deep three-run shot to bring home both Westover and O'Dell.
With EIU now leading the Illini, 10-1, the Panthers were already on the verge of earning the program's first mercy-rule victory over Illinois, but Eastern would extend the lead thanks to two scores in the fifth inning.
Consecutive walk-up singles would require a third Illinois pitcher to see action in the contest. Owens earned an RBI off her fielder's choice shot to shortstop while O'Dell tallied her final RBI of the game, also to the UI shortstop, as Brown and Willert both touched home plate, respectively, for the final margin of victory.
As the reigning Ohio Valley Conference 'Pitcher of the Week,' Mennenga pitched another gem of game. Her 12 total strikeouts maintains her No. 4 national rank of averaging over 11-Ks in 7-innings of work. She also held Illinois to a low .111 bat behind just three walks and two hits.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 4, ALABAMA STATE 3
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - Junior Kalee Tabor went 3-for-4 and sophomore Sara Borders hit a two-run home run in the fourth that erased a one-run deficit and gave the Jacksonville State softball team a 4-3 win over Alabama State on Tuesday at University Field.
The Hornets got three runs in the second, two unearned, to build a 3-1 lead, but after the Gamecocks (23-17) added one in the second, Borders delivered the big blow and gave JSU the lead for good.
Freshman Casey Akenberger allowed three runs, only one earned, on six hits in five innings of work to earn the win, while juniors Savanna Hennings and Tiffany Harbin threw scoreless frames to close the door. Harbin allowed one hit in the seventh en route to her first save of the season.
The Gamecocks were knocking on the door in every inning but couldn't seemed to break the game open. They left 12 runners on base during the game and stranded at least one runner in scoring position in every inning.
JSU got on the board in the bottom of the first on Tabor's first hit of the game, a single that plated Krystal Ruth after her leadoff double in the right field corner. ASU capitalized on a Gamecock miscue in the top of the second, when Tabor's throw to first on a Rachel Mills sac bunt sailed into the right field corner and allowed two runs to score. Mills would also come around to score on a Brehanna Rodrigues single to give the Hornets a 3-1 lead.
Senior Jessica Guy cut the Gamecocks deficit to 3-2 in the bottom of the inning with a two-out single back up the middle that plated freshman Ella Denes. A freshman from Pisgah, Ala., Denes went 1-for-2 but reached in all three plate appearances in the game. She has now reached in six-straight plate appearances and in 11 of her last 12.
Denes set up Borders' game winning blast with a single to lead off the fourth. After Ruth and Guy were retired, Borders went down in the zone and drove ASU starter Destyni Valencia's pitch over the wall in right center for her team-leading ninth homer of the year.
Valencia (2-12) suffered the loss after allowing four runs on nine hits in five innings of work. She walked four before making way for Melissa Christmann, who gave up two hits in a scoreless sixth inning.
Guy and Borders each went 2-for-4 at the plate for the Gamecocks, while Rodrigues and Mills each notched two hits to lead ASU.
MOREHEAD STATE 7, MIAMI (OHIO) 4; MOREHEAD STATE 10, MIAMI (OHIO) 6
OXFORD, Ohio - Senior first baseman Amber Riddle broke the Morehead State career RBI record in a doubleheader sweep, 7-4 and 10-6, of Miami (Ohio) on Tuesday. The wins improved the softball Eagles’ record to 16-14, while the RedHawks fell to 12-22.
The senior brought her career RBI total to 137 with five on the day, surpassing former teammate Rebecca Butler.
Junior catcher McKenna Bartko was perfect at the plate in the opener, going 4-for-4, while junior second baseman Stephanie Etter added three hits and an RBI. Every Eagle bat in the line-up was accounted for in MSU’s 15-hit performance, which tied a season high.
Senior Katie Pfost (9-7) earned the victory in the circle. She didn't allow an earned run and gave up 12 hits while striking out five in the complete-game effort.
MSU scored runs in the fifth and sixth innings to secure the win. Senior shortstop Kayla Ashbrook and Riddle each registered run-producing singles in the fifth, and senior designated hitter Adrena Anderson and senior outfielder Sam Woodall each plated a runner in the sixth. Senior outfielder Elizabeth Wagner added an insurance run with her second home run of the season in the sixth, and Etter capped off the scoring with a single to left center in the final Eagle frame.
The RedHawks attempted a comeback in the sixth inning, scoring four runs on a two-out rally, but the Eagle defense kept the lead heading into the seventh.
In game two, the Eagle offense exploded for eight runs over the first two innings as the Eagles built an 8-1 advantage. Riddle got things started in the first inning with her team-leading seventh home run of the season to knock in three and put her RBI total at 29 on the season. Ashbrook highlighted the second inning with a three-run roundtripper that brought her season total to four, and junior catcher Jamie Massaro added an RBI on a fielder’s choice. Senior outfielder Sam Woodall chipped in an RBI single.
The RedHawks scored one in their half of the first, but it was a four-run third inning that included a three-run shot that got them back in the contest. Miami tacked on a run in the bottom of the fifth as well.
A pair of wild pitches plated runs for the Eagles in the sixth and seventh.
Ashbrook had two hits and the three RBI, while Woodall and senior outfielder Anna Sommer added a pair of hits each.
Junior Kelcey McMurray (3-5) picked up the victory in four innings of work. She allowed five hits, one unearned run and struck out four. Fellow junior Greta Smeins put in 2.2 innings and allowed four earned runs.