FRIDAY'S SCORES
Jacksonville State 12, St. Bonaventure 0 (5)
@Charleston Southern 3,
Jacksonville State 0
Grand Canyon 7,
Tennessee State 6
Southeast Missouri 9, Houston Baptist 7
@Samford 9,
Belmont 3
Evansville 4,
Eastern Kentucky 3
SIUE 3, Michigan State 2 (9)
@ULM 6,
Southeast Missouri 4
Eastern Illinois 9, @ULM 2
Alabama 12,
Tennessee State 0 (5)
@Arizona State 5,
SIUE 2
Eastern Illinois 4, Grambling State 2
JACKSONVILLE STATE 12, ST. BONAVENTURE 0; CHARLESTON SOUTHERN 3, JACKSONVILLE STATE 0
CHARLESTON, S.C. - The Jacksonville State softball team cruised to a 12-0 win over St. Bonaventure before dropping a 3-0 decision to the host Bulldogs on the first day of the Charleston Southern Tournament on Friday.
In the first game of the day, JSU got another stellar start from Casey Akenberger (2-1) and another offensive outburst to blow past the Bonnies. Akenberger took a no-hitter into the fourth and grabbed her second win of the year after holding SBU scoreless on one hit through four innings of work. Freshman Brooke Carvey made her debut in the fifth and worked around a pair of hits to preserve the shutout.
The middle of the order did the damage for the Gamecocks, who saw their No. 3-6 hitters go a combined 10-for-14 with 10 runs scored and 10 RBI. Junior Sara Borders went 4-for-4 with a double, homer, two RBI and four runs scored, while freshman Jamie McGuire drove in five runs in a 2-for-4 game. Senior Kalee Tabor went 3-for-3 with two RBI and three runs scored. All four homered, thanks to back-to-back blasts from McGuire and Cadi Oliver in the fourth and back-to-back round trippers from Borders and Tabor in the fifth.
The Gamecocks jumped on the Bonnies in the first, taking advantage of two errors and using an RBI double from Borders and RBI singles from Kalee Tabor and Amanda Maldonado to grab an early 4-0 lead.
Another SBU miscue, this one a passed ball, gave the Gamecocks a 5-0 lead in the second and set up an RBI single to left from McGuire to score another run and give JSU a 6-0 lead midway through the second.
After a scoreless third, McGuire and Oliver used back-to-back long balls to break it open. The freshman's first career round tripper was a three-run blast that was followed by Oliver's solo shot that gave the Gamecocks a commanding 10-0 advantage.
The Bonnies finally got one through against Akenberger in the fourth, when Katie Sinclair's one-out single broke up her no-hit bid. The sophomore worked around it, taking the 10-0 lead into the fifth.
JSU went back-to-back again in the fifth, this time getting solo shots from Borders and Tabor to make it a 12-0 Gamecock lead.
Julia Pratt (0-1) took the loss for SBU after allowing 10 runs on 10 hits in just three innings of work. Alexi Sloat pitched the final two innings and surrendered two runs on three hits in the process.
In the second game of the day it was Charleston Southern who jumped on the board in the first inning, getting a single from Marci Christian and then a two-run home run from Jessica Brock.
The two-run lead would be all the Buccaneers would need. Jennifer Giles held the Gamecocks off the scoreboard through the first four innings, despite giving up three hits and walking four. She earned the win before making way for Cheyenne Gandara, who tossed the final three. She walked one and gave up three hits but struck out five to grab the save.
JSU stranded 12 runners and went just 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position.
CSU got an insurance run off of starter Tiffany Harbin (1-2) in the fourth and handed her the loss. She allowed three runs, just two earned, on six hits in six innings or work. She struck out five and walked one.
The Gamecocks will continue play in the tournament on Saturday with another 9:30 a.m. CT game against St. Bonaventure and a 2:30 p.m. rematch with Charleston Southern.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 9, HOUSTON BAPTIST 7; ULM 6, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 4
MONROE, La. - Southeast Missouri (1-1) split two games during in day one of the Mardi Gras Classic Friday. The Redhawks beat Houston Baptist (2-4), 9-7, and lost to tournament host UL Monroe (4-2), 6-4.
Southeast Missouri 9, Houston Baptist 7
Southeast scored nine runs in the final three innings to pull off a 9-7 come-from-behind win over Houston Baptist in its season-opener.
After getting just one hit in the game's first four innings, Southeast pounded out 10 hits and scored all of its runs in the final three frames to simply overpower the Huskies. The win snapped a four-game losing streak in season-opening games for the Redhawks, who last began a season with a victory in 2010 (11-3, at Jackson State on Feb. 11).
Southeast fell behind quickly when HBU pushed across five runs in the bottom of the first.
Lauren Schwirtlich drew a leadoff walk and went to third with the help of a sacrifice-bunt and wild pitch. Kirsten Schwirtlich followed with a single to left center, bringing home her sister for the game's first run. Melissa Herman reached on a fielder's choice, Michaela Granchelli was hit by a pitch and Cecilia Bauer walked to load the bases after that. Schroeder was then hit by a pitch and Herman scored.
Freshman Aubrey Denno, who allowed three hits, five runs and three walks in one inning during her first career start, was relieved by fellow rookie Keaira Schilling. Schilling was immediately greeted with a two-out three-RBI double by Holly Webb which stretched the Huskies lead to 5-0.
Southeast rallied behind Lindsey Patterson's three-run home run to tie the game in the top of the fifth. Patterson smacked Kendall Stiefel's pitch over the wall in left center for her 14th career bomb. Back-to-back two-out RBI-doubles by Rachael Duncan and Kelsey Gass knotted things up at 5-5.
HBU regained a 7-5 edge during its at-bat in the fifth when Bauer knocked in two runs on a one-out single to left.
Southeast, however, answered with three more runs in the sixth and one more in the seventh to cage the Huskies.
Alexis Anderson doubled home Renee Terry on a double to right center, and Haylee Krack and Savannah Carpenter each had run-scoring hits in the sixth.
Leah Duffe's first career home run tacked on the Redhawks insurance run to cap the 9-7 win in the seventh.
Hannah Durham (1-0) picked up her first win of the season. Durham tossed 2.2 no-hit, scoreless innings out of the Redhawks bullpen.
Stiefel (1-2) took the loss for HBU. She struck out eight, gave up five walks and scattered six hits in 5.2 innings.
Offensively, Patterson and Terry each paved the way with two hits. Patterson went 2-for-3 with a run scored, home run and three RBI, while Terry finished at 2-for-4 with two runs scored. Terry also touched home for Southeast's go-ahead run in the sixth. Seven other Redhawks contributed a hit.
Southeast outhit HBU, 11-6, and did not commit an error.
UL Monroe 6, Southeast Missouri 2
Mardi Gras Classic Tournament host UL Monroe used a three-run third inning to fuel a 6-4 victory.
Southeast held a 1-0 advantage when Warhawk starting second baseman and leadoff hitter Miyuki Navarrete launched a three-run homer to give ULM a two-run lead in the bottom of the second.
ULM extended its lead to 5-1 in the third thanks to an RBI-double by Vanessa Garcia and a sacrifice fly by Mackenzie Miller.
The Warhawks added another run in the fifth before the Redhawks started chipping away.
Patterson knocked in Alexis Anderson on a double to left and scored on a wild pitch to get Southeast two runs in the sixth. Southeast then scored an unearned run and had the tying run at the plate, but came up short in the seventh.
Samantha Hamby (3-1) earned the win. Hamby went the distance, allowing seven hits and four runs. She also had four strikeouts and a walk.
Durham (1-1) suffered the loss in her first start of the season. She gave up seven hits and four runs in two innings.
Anderson went 3-for-3 with a double and two runs scored to lead Southeast. In addition, Savannah Carpenter hit a solo home run to grab Southeast its early lead. Patterson went 2-for-3 with a run and three RBI.
The Redhawks resume action at the Mardi Gras Classic against Houston Baptist and Grambling State Saturday.
SIUE 3, MICHIGAN STATE 2
TEMPE, Ariz. - Kayla Riggs delivered the game-winning RBI in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift the SIUE softball team to a 3-2 victory over Big Ten foe Michigan State Friday afternoon at the Arizona State Littlewood Classic.
Riggs laid down an RBI squeeze bunt with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning, scoring Allison Smiley from third base and giving the Cougars (1-4) the win.
Pitcher Haley Chambers turned in a stellar performance in the circle for SIUE, throwing a complete game that included 12 strikeouts and just one walk. She limited the Spartans to two runs, one earned, on four hits.
The Cougars fell behind by a run in both the sixth and seventh innings, but had an answer for Michigan State in both instances.
In the sixth inning, Alex McDavid delivered an RBI groundout to plate Chelsea Yankolovich after MSU had taken a 1-0 lead a half inning earlier.
In the bottom of the seventh, Rebecca Gray produced a game-tying sacrifice fly to score Kelsey Hansen and send the game into extra innings at 2-2.
The Cougars will now prepare for three straight games against teams ranked in the top 10 nationally. SIUE faces No. 5 Arizona State at 9:15 p.m. CT Friday night before taking on No. 7 Oklahoma Saturday at 12:15 p.m. along with No. 3 Washington at 7 p.m.
SAMFORD 9, BELMONT 3
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Belmont softball team succombed to Samford University, 9-3, on Friday afternoon in the Bruins first game of the Samford Invitational Tournament.
The Bruins fell behind early as the Bulldogs jumped out to a quick 3-0 nothing advantage through the first two innings of the contest.
Belmont (2-3) pulled to within one run in the third inning as senior Mia Vierra (Palmdale, Calif.) scored a run off a RBI fielder's choice followed by a RBI single to left field by freshman Chelsey Deloney (Gardendale, Ala.).
The Bruins tied up the contest, 3-3, in the top of the fourth inning off an RBI single to right center field from senior Ashley Hammer (Mt. Juliet, Tenn.).
Samford (5-1) quickly thwarted the Bruins rally as the Bulldogs produced a big fourth inning, scoring four runs off three hits. The decisive inning was highlighted by a three-run home run by Bulldog sophomore Callie Brister.
Samford added on a pair of insurance runs over the fifth and sixth innings as the Bulldogs went on for the 9-3 victory.
Kirbie Ferrell (Pasadena, Tex.) paced Belmont's offensive as the junior went 2-for-4 on the afternoon.
The Bruins will be back in action on Saturday as Belmont plays a pair of contests in the second day of action of the Samford invite. BU takes on Evansville at 11 a.m. followed by a 6 p.m. contest vs. OVC foe Eastern Kentucky.
EVANSVILLE 4, EASTERN KENTUCKY 3
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Evansville used a pair of two-run home runs to defeat the Eastern Kentucky University softball team Friday afternoon at the Samford Invitational, 4-3.
Junior Katie Tackett gave the Colonels (2-4) a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the third inning thanks to a two-out, two-run long ball of her own.
Eastern then had a chance to extend the lead in the fourth inning after putting runners on second and third with nobody out. However, Evansville (1-0) got out of the inning with a fielder’s choice, strike out and ground out.
The Purple Aces took the lead for good in their ensuing at-bat. Chandra Parr came up with a two-out single before Kayla Fortner homered to left field.
Evansville starting pitcher Emily Morris held the Colonels hitless in their final three turns at-bat to preserve the win.
EKU’s Leanna Pittsenbarger (1-2) took the loss despite going all seven innings and striking out 11 Evansville batters.
Besides Tackett’s home run, Eastern Kentucky only managed three singles the rest of the game.
The Colonels are back in action tomorrow, Feb. 15 at the Samford Invitational with a pair of games against Belmont and the host Bulldogs.
GRAND CANYON 7, TENNESSEE STATE 6; ALABAMA 12, TENNESSEE STATE 0
TUCSON, Ariz. - Tennessee State dropped a pair of games on day one of the Hillenbrand Invitational on Friday. Tigers made a late inning comeback in the first game of the day, but ended up losing a heartbreaker 7-6 in nine innings to Grand Canyon University. In the night cap, No. 4 Alabama scored in each of their first four innings to claim a 12-0 five inning victory over TSU.
The Tigers are now 1-6 on the early season, while the Crimson Tide remains undefeated at 7-0. GCU fell to Alabama immediately after the morning game with TSU to move to 3-5.
In the opener, the Tigers opened fast for the second consecutive game. Tayler Shimizu and Jayna Hanawahine opened the third with back-to-back hits. Hanawahine’s first double of the season moved her fellow Hawaiian to third to set the stage for a big inning. Courtney Gearlds notched the first RBI of her young career with a solid line drive into left, bringing home Shimizu for the first run of the game. After Gearlds picked up her second stolen base of the game, Ashley Haynes delivered a single into left center that plated Hanawahine and Gearlds for a quick 3-0 lead.
Grand Canyon would climb back into the gain, and eventually take the lead, with a run in each, the third and fourth innings, followed by a three-run inning of their own in the fifth. The spurt by the Lopes produced a 5-3 lead into the seventh inning.
The Tigers charged back in the seventh with back-to-back singles by Liz Stansberry and Shimizu. A batter later, Gearlds earned a walk to load the bases for Kate Morris. The Lawrenceburg, Tenn., native came through in the clutch with a double off the left field fence chasing home Stansberry and Shimizu to tie the game at 5-5.
Grand Canyon threatened in the bottom of the eighth inning with bases loaded and no outs, but Shea Morris was able to induce two ground balls and a line drive to exit the inning unharmed.
Kate Morris came through again in the ninth by driving in Hanawahine, who was placed on second for the International Tie-Breaker. The Tigers could only manage one run and led 6-5 heading to the bottom half of the inning.
GCU took advantage of a base hit and a couple TSU throwing errors to push a pair of runs across for the 7-6 win.
In the second game of the twin bill, starter Olivia Gamache went the distance surrendering 12 runs, six earned, on 12 hits and seven walks. The senior collected four strikeouts as she dropped to 0-3.
Sydney Littlejohn (2-0) earned the win allowing just three hits, a walk, and hit a batter while fanning seven. Gearlds picked up the first hit of the game for TSU with a shot up the middle and finished the night with a team leading .381 batting average.
In the fifth inning, Shimizu and Hanawahine recorded hits off the freshman hurler from Alabama. Shimizu was hit by Littlejohn in the second inning and finished the night 1-for-1, 3-for-5 with two runs on the day.
TSU will play a pair of games on day two of the Hillenbrand Invitational. Saturday will start as Friday did, with an 11:00am (MT) game against Grand Canyon. The Tigers will then face #22 Arizona at 4:00pm (MT). All games can be heard at tsutigers.com.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 9, ULM 2; GRAMBLING STATE 4, EASTERN ILLINOIS 2
MONROE, La. - – Eastern Illinois softball began Louisiana-Monroe Mardi Gras Classic action with a pair of comeback wins on Friday (Feb. 14) as the Panthers hit past the host Warhawks, 9-2, and Grambling State, 5-2, respectively, to improve to 4-3 overall.
In the first game rout of the tourney hosts, the Panthers clawed past the Warhawks after being down 2-0 in the first frame. Yet EIU would erupt for at least one run in the final five innings, which included five scores in the sixth frame alone.
Three different players – senior Brooke Owens, junior Hannah Cole and sophomore April Markowski -- blasted a home run in the win, with Markowski delivering a two-RBI shot.
Sophomore Jennette Isaac led all players with a 2-for-3 plate mark plus a stolen base, as she joined senior Carly Willert and newcomer Amber Toenyes with addition RBI performances. Cole and senior Reynae Hutchinson added respective 2-for-4 hitting as both also touched home twice.
Stephanie Maday earned the complete game win in the circle as the senior retired five ULM batters off strikes yet allowed zero zero walks and just two runs, which came off the long ball in the early going.
Team-wise, EIU out-hit ULM, 11-to-10, while leaving just four base runners on base as compared to seven for the Warhawks. The Panthers also committed just two miscues while ULM tallied five errors.
The nightcap win over the Tigers of Grambling State started nearly identically to the first game of the day, as GSU enjoyed an early 2-0 advantage off a two-run blast over the wall in the top of the fourth.
But like they did in the previous game, the Panthers countered with three runs of their own in the same inning to retake the lead as EIU added two more runs in the fourth for the final margin of victory.
Owens and Cole led the way in the second game behind 2-for-3 performances at the plate, as each secured an RBI.
Five different Panthers were all credited with a run in the win as Willert, Markowski and Hutchinson all secured a stolen base as EIU exhibited aggressive base running throughout the day.
After starting the season on a bit rough note last weekend, senior Hanna Mennenga returned to prime form in the circle as the reigning OVC 'Pitcher of the Year' earned the complete game victory behind 15 strikeouts. She finished one K shy of tying her career high tally that she trice set last spring, as she fanned just two hits and allowed four walks.
The Panthers once again led GSU in team hitting via an eight-to-two advantage, as the Tigers also committed three more errors in the loss than Eastern.
EIU returns to Mardi Gras Classic play tomorrow evening, as the Panthers will once again face both Louisiana-Monroe and Grambling State in consecutive games, which get underway starting at 5:30 p.m.