SUNDAY'S SCORES
Murray State 6, @Austin Peay 0
@Tennessee Tech 8, Tennessee State 1
@Jacksonville State 2, Morehead State 0
@Eastern Illinois 4, UT Martin 0
Belmont 3, @Eastern Kentucky 1
@SIUE 3, Southeast Missouri 0
MURRAY STATE 6, AUSTIN PEAY 0
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - The Murray State softball team put together a 6-0 shutout of Austin Peay on Sunday at Cheryl Holt Field in Clarksville to complete the series sweep of the Lady Govs. The win extends MSU’s current win streak to seven games and stands as the second longest in program history.
Murray State was first on the board on the contest, when Shelbey Miller scored on a sacrifice fly by Alexa Becker. Miller got into scoring position after a wild pitch by APSU’s Lauren de Castro and single by Mo Ramsey.
With one out in the third inning, Miller and Ramsey continued to swing the hot bat for MSU and both got on base with a single. After a walk by Alexa Becker loaded the bases, Miller and Ramsey scored on a fielder’s choice by Leslie Bridges to make the score 3-0.
In the fourth, Murray State pushed the lead to 5-0 in an inning that began with single form Mallory Young. Three batters later, Miller brought in young on MSU’s second sacrifice fly of the day to push the lead to 4-0. Becker picked up her second RBI of the day two batters later with a single that scored Young.
The Racers continued to build their lead in the fifth when Cayla Levins scored from first on a double from Jocelynn Rodgers. Levins reached base earlier in the frame on MSU’s second walk of the afternoon. The run by Levins would prove to be the last by either team in the contest, as MSU held on for 6-0 win.
Mason Robinson pitched a complete-game shutout for MSU to improve to 9-6 on the year. She gave up no run on three hits with no walks and five strikeouts en route to her third shutout of the season.
Ramsey led Murray State in the contest by going 3-for-4 on the day and scoring a run. Becker followed Ramsey by going 1-for-2 with a walk and a game-high two RBIs.
TENNESSEE TECH 8, TENNESSEE STATE 1
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - The Tennessee Tech softball team completed its three-game sweep of OVC and in-state foe Tennessee State (16-30, 4-12) on Sunday, taking the finale 8-1 amidst a gorgeous afternoon at Tech Softball Field.
Freshman starting pitcher Danielle Liberatore (8-10) was brilliant once again to notch her third consecutive conference victory, leading the Golden Eagles (15-31, 7-10) with a complete game, four-hit showing.
Tech broke the game wide open in the second inning, plating seven runs with the scored knotted up at 0-0. Sophomore Cortney Fry began the inning with a double down the left field line, before moving to third with one out on a pass ball. Freshman Gabby Perez singled in Fry for TTU's first run of the inning, which was followed up by an infield single by senior Kayla Floyd and a walk to junior Angi Sakamoto to load the bases.
Sakamoto would go on to reach base four times in the ball game with a single, two walks, and a hit-by-pitch, moving her season-long hitting streak to 15 straight after knocking one up the middle in the home half of the first.
With the bases juiced, sophomore Madison Taylor coaxed a walk to bring home Perez for the Golden Eagles second run of the frame, before freshman Alyssa Richards doubled to left center to plate Sakamoto and Floyd to give Tech a 4-0 advantage. Senior Kendall Hooper reached on an error that brought around Madison Taylor and moved pinch runner Amity Brown to third, before both Hooper and Brown would come in of a two-run single off the bat of Cortney Fry two batters later to push the lead to 7-0.
The seven-run cushion proved to be plenty for Liberatore, as the 5-foot-10 southpaw didn't allow more than one base runner to reach in an inning until the seventh.
TSU scored its lone run in the top of the third after freshman Liz Stansberry plated fellow freshman Courtney Geralds on a sacrifice fly to right, who tripled one batter earlier for the Tigers first base runner of the contest.
Tennessee State senior Olivia Gamache was hit with the loss after giving up eight runs (five earned) on seven hits in 5 1/3 innings of work.
BELMONT 3, EASTERN KENTUCKY 1
RICHMOND, Ky. - Belmont pitcher Taylor Moon limited the Eastern Kentucky University softball team to one run over six innings as the Bruins picked up a 3-1 win Sunday afternoon.
The Colonels (22-15, 10-5 OVC) were attempting to pick up their sixth straight win, but only came up with four singles.
EKU did strike first in the second inning thanks to sophomore Sarah Fobbs. The left fielder opened the frame with a single, stole second base and then came around to score on a wild pitch and throwing error by the Belmont catcher.
The Bruins (12-25, 6-10) quickly struck back in the third behind a two-out RBI single from Jessica Wilson.
Belmont took the lead for good in the fourth inning due to a pair of Eastern Kentucky errors. With two outs, senior Nicole Heitz dropped a hard-hit line drive in right field, allowing Shersty Stanton to score. Belmont’s next batter, Kirbie Ferrell, popped up to pitcher Alex Sallberg, but she dropped the ball. Kayla Wells crossed home plate on the play extending the Belmont lead to 3-1.
The Colonels did not tally a hit in their final four at-bats.
Sallberg (2-1) was the tough-luck loser, tossing two innings and giving up all three Belmont runs. However, only one of those runs was earned.
Moon (7-8) struck out four Colonels and only walked one on the way to her seventh win.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 2, MOREHEAD STATE 0
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - Tiffany Harbin tossed her second shutout in as many days and the Gamecocks' third of the weekend on Sunday, when the Jacksonville State softball team polished off a series sweep of Morehead State with a 2-0 win at University Field.
Harbin allowed just four hits and struck out nine to seal the sweep for her Gamecocks (29-11, 13-4 Ohio Valley Conference), who shut out the Eagles (7-28-1, 3-12 OVC) in all three games of the series. It marked just the third time in school history that JSU has held an opponent scoreless in each game of a three-game set, but it was the second this season after three shutouts at Tennessee State in late March.
A native of Hazel Green, Ala., Harbin (12-6) opened the series with a two-hitter on Saturday before freshman Logan Green's four-hit gem closed the doubleheader that opened the series. She allowed just six baserunners over the series and improved to 8-2 against OVC foes this season. In her 10 OVC starts, she has 10 complete games in 10 starts, including six shutouts, while OVC batters are hitting .167 against her.
Eagles starter Tanna Seuferer (3-13) held JSU in check for most of the game, forcing the Gamecocks to strand eight baserunners. She held them to five hits but allowed two runs in the third inning to take the loss.
That third inning started with sophomore Ella Denes reaching after being hit by a pitch to lead it off. Freshman Taylor Sloan then singled through the left side and senior Kalle Tabor singled to center to load the bases with one out. Sophomore Cadi Oliver took one on the ensuing at bat, Seuferer's second hit batter of the inning, to put JSU up 1-0.
Seuferer then threw one outside that popped out of catcher McKenna Batko's mitt, allowing Sloan to score from third on a play that looked to have the runner out at the plate. Batko got her glove to the plate but instead of tagging the runner, she laid it on the plate before watching Sloan slide around it for the second run of the game.
Harbin needed no more from her offense, allowing just two more baserunners over the final four innings, while recording six of her nine strikeouts after she got the lead.
Juniors Sara Borders and Melanie Steer doubled for the Gamecocks in the win, while Taylor Sloan, Savannah Sloan and Tabor had the team's other three hits. Borders went 3-for-6 on the series, while Savannah Sloan had four hits in nine at bats.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 4, UT MARTIN 0
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Eastern Illinois softball completed the three-game series sweep of Ohio Valley Conference West Division rival UT Martin on Sunday (April), as the Panthers blanked the Skyhawks, 4-0, on a blustery day at Williams Field.
Having now won seven consecutive games, the Panthers improve to 30-11 overall and 10-4 in league action, while the Skyhawks drop to 22-19-1 and 9-6.
Junior Bailey O'Dell led the Panther offense with a pair of RBI shots, which included an unofficial inside-the-park homerun and sac fly RBI.
With a scoreless game heading to the bottom of the fourth, O'Dell delivered a two-out bloop single to centerfield, which would score senior pinch-runner Kaylie Pruett from second. After advancing to second on the throw, the UTM catcher would commit consecutive fielding and throwing errors to allow O'Dell to scamper home for the second run and the 2-0 lead.
Then in the fifth frame, sophomore Jennette Isaac blasted a walk-up triple to right center, before scoring off a wild pitch to give the Panthers the 3-0 advantage. O'Dell's one-out sac fly RBI then followed in the sixth inning, which helped pinch-runner/outfielder Haylee Beck easily touch home plate from third.
Stephanie Maday earned the complete game win in the circle, as the senior nabbed her sixth shutout of the year and 20th all-time. She fanned two batters, allowed only one walk and stranded five UTM base runners, while allowing only a single hit.
Isaac went 2-3 at the plate in the win, while junior Hannah Cole, senior Reynae Hutchinson and freshman Amber Toenyes all collected a hit as well. Pruett added to her season stolen base tally with her seventh theft of the season.
With the sweep, the Panthers improve the series lead over the Skyhawks to 33--26 all-time, as UTM has not won at Williams Field since the 2007 campaign.
For the weekend series, EIU dominated in hitting (.234-to-.058), runs (six-to-zero), hits (15-to-four), RBI (four-to-zero), slug % (.328-to-.072), and strikeouts thrown (22-to-six). UTM did hold the advantage in doubles (one-to-zero), stolen bases (three-to-two), and runners left-on-base (ten-to-14), as both squads combined for six total errors.
SIUE 3, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 0
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Despite a rain delay that lasted just shy of 90 minutes, the SIUE softball team secured a 3-0 shutout victory over Southeast Missouri Sunday afternoon to complete a three-game series sweep of the Redhawks.
The Cougars (20-18, 12-3 OVC) got another strong pitching performance from ace Haley Chambers while sophomore Rachel Keller drove in all three runs for SIUE.
SIUE has now gone 8-1 in the month of April with six of those wins coming in conference play.
A day after tossing the third no-hitter of her collegiate career, Chambers dominated the Redhawks once again with a complete-game shutout. The sophomore allowed no runs on four hits while posting 11 strikeouts, giving her 22 K's on the weekend.
Keller, who got her first start of OVC play at second base, led the Cougars offensively by going 2-2 with three RBIs.
The Bethlato, Ill., native put SIUE on the board in the second inning with a two-out RBI single that plated Kayla Riggs and Brittany Toney. Keller would provide another insurance run in the fifth inning, ripping a single up the middle to score Rebecca Gray.
The Cougars will complete a five-game homestand when they welcome local rival Saint Louis to Cougar Field Tuesday at 4 p.m. SIUE and SLU faced one another last Wednesday, with the visiting Cougars earning a 4-1 victory in Montgomery's 900th career victory as SIUE head coach.