SATURDAY'S SCORES
Jacksonville State 13, @Austin Peay 0
Jacksonville State 5, @Austin Peay 0
Belmont 5, @Southeast Missouri 0
Belmont 14, @Southeast Missouri 5
@SIUE 13, Morehead State 3
@SIUE 5, Morehead State 4
Tennessee Tech 5, @Murray State 4
@Murray State 9, Tennessee Tech 3
Eastern Kentucky 2, @Eastern Illinois 1
Eastern Illinois 1, @Eastern Kentucky 0
@UT Martin 6, Tennessee State 5
@UT Martin 4, Tennessee State 3
JACKSONVILLE STATE 13, AUSTI NPEAY 0; JACKSONVILLE STATE 5, AUSTIN PEAY 0
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - The Jacksonville State softball team got two more gems in the circle and plenty of support at the plate on Saturday to sweep and Ohio Valley Conference doubleheader at Austin Peay.
Senior Tiffany Harbin tossed a two-hit shutout in a 13-0 win in the first game of the day before freshman Logan Green followed with a four-hitter in a 5-0 win in the nightcap. Their battery mate, junior Savannah Sloan, led the charge at the plate by going 6-for-9 and hitting for the cycle over the course of the two games. She singled, tripled and homered in the second game after a pair of singles and a double in the opener.
Harbin and Green teamed up to toss the Gamecocks' fourth and fifth straight OVC shutout, respectively, extending JSU's streak of consecutive scoreless innings against league foes to 35.1 innings. Harbin has thrown 23.1 consecutive scoreless frames against league hitters and hasn't allowed an earned run to an OVC opponent in her last 25.2 innings. Green has tossed two-straight shutouts in conference play, extending her streak to 14.1 innings.
Sloan, a native of Reynolds, Ga., had six hits on the day for the Gamecocks (26-9, 10-2 OVC), the same number as the Lady Govs (16-20, 5-6 OVC) managed to muster as a team on Saturday. They had just one extra base hit and struck out 14 times, 11 against Harbin.
Sloan also drove in four runs on the day, as did fellow junior Sara Borders, who went 4-for-9 over the twinbill. The Alexandria, Ala., native was 3-for-5 with a triple and three RBI in the first game.
In that first game, JSU got on the board early, thanks to a leadoff triple from sophomore Ella Denes and Sloan's first RBI of the day. Hayden Crawford drove in Amanda Maldonado with a one-out triple in the second, setting up a three-run homer from Denes that gave Harbin an early 5-0 advantage.
She got one more in the third on a Jamie McGuire grounder before the Govs held the Gamecocks off the board for the first time in the fourth inning. Borders singled in one in the sixth and delivered the big blow, a two-run triple, in a six-run seventh.
Harbin, a native of Hazel Green, Ala., improved to 10-5 on the year and pushed her school-record wins total to 69. Her 11 strikeouts add to her school record in that category, giving her 818 in her four years at JSU. She retired the first nine batters she faced and didn't allow a runner past first base until the seventh inning.
Sidney Hooper (3-5) took the loss after surrendering five runs on six hits in 1.1 innings in the circle for APSU. Taylor Mills allowed six on five hits and six walks in 4.2 innings, while Allie Blackwood was tagged for the last two runs in one inning of work.
Green, a native of Hebron, Md., also got an early lead in the second game of the day, thans to a one-out triple from Sloan and an RBI single by Borders immediately after. Sloan's second homer of the season came in the third to put JSU up 3-0, and a two-run single from junior Melanie Steer capped the scoring in the fourth.
Steer, a native of Scarborough, Ontario, went 2-for-3 with a pair of RBI in the nightcap after walking twice and scoring twice in the first game of the twinbill.
Mel Pavel, who had one of the Govs' two hits in the first game, had two of their four hits in the second one. She led off the fourth with a double, APSU's lone extra base hit of the day, but was stranded at third.
Green (7-2) struck out three and didn't issue a walk, and threw just 97 pitches in her seven-inning shutout of the Govs. Peay ace Lauren de Castro (11-7) was touched for five runs on nine hits in seven innings, while walking one and striking out five in the loss.
BELMONT 6, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 0; BELMONT 14, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 5
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Belmont Softball continued its winning ways this afternoon as the Bruins captured its third-straight victory as BU swept Southeast Missouri State Saturday in Cape Girardeau, Mo.
Game 1: Belmont 6, Southeast Missouri 0
In the opening contest, the Bruins recorded its fourth shutout victory on the year as starting pitcher Taylor Moon (Vestavia, Ala.) continued her strong play on the mound.
Belmont lit up the scoreboard first in the second inning as Moon walked in a run. A sacrifice fly from Kat Hollingsworth (Carrollton, Tex.) scored another Bruin run in the third inning.
A two-RBI single from Chelsey Deloney (Gardendale, Ala.) stretched Belmont's lead to 4-0.
The Bruins added a pair of insurance runs in the seventh inning as Belmont went on for the easy, 6-0, victory.
Taylor Moon (6-5) continued her strong play for the Bruins as the sophomore right-hander threw six innings, allowing no runs off three hits while striking out eight Redhawks.
BU's Jessica Wilson (Alvin, Tex.) and Mia Vierra (Palmdale, Calif.) paced Belmont offensively as Wilson went 2-for-4, scoring three runs with one stolen base while Vierra finished 2-for-3 with a RBI.
Game 2: Belmont 14, Southeast Missouri 5
In the second game of the day, Southeast Missouri jumped out to the early advantage as the Redhawks scored five runs over the first two innings of play.
The Bruins dented the scoreboard for the first time in the third inning as a triple by Jordan Daly (Humble, Tex.) drove in a pair of runs.
Freshman catcher Chelsey Deloney followed that with a sacrifice fly as Belmont drew to within two, 5-3.
Belmont separated itself in a big way as the Bruins' bats came alive in the fourth inning, scoring 11 runs off eight hits. Five Southeast errors aided BU's offensive barrage.
RBI singles from Kayla Wells (Bonney Lake, Wash.) Ashley Hammer (Mt. Juliet, Tenn.) and Kat Hollingsworth highlighted the game-defining inning for the Bruins.
Belmont (11-20, 5-6 OVC) held on for the easy 14-5 victory in five innings as the Bruins captured its third-straight victory with the sweep of the Redhawks.
BU's Mia Vierra (2-4) earned the victory as the senior threw for three innings in relief effort, allowing no runs on a single hit.
SIUE 13, MOREHEAD STATE 3; SIUE 5, MOREHEAD STATE 4
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - SIUE softball earned its third doubleheader sweep of the Ohio Valley Conference regular season Saturday with a pair of wins over visiting Morehead State.
The Cougars defeated the Eagles 13-3 in five innings and 5-4. SIUE remained atop of the OVC West Division with an 8-2 record in league play and improved to 14-17 overall.
In game one, pitcher Haley Chambers went three innings for her eighth victory of the season.
Chambers also added a two-run triple to the gap in right center field on the first pitch she saw in the first inning and finished the game with three RBIs.
SIUE was lighting up the scoreboard from the opening pitch of game one. The Cougars scored four runs in each of the first three innings and added the 13th run in the bottom of the fourth before closing out the short game called due to the eight-run rule.
Centerfielder Whitney Lanphier gave the crowd at Cougar Field more to cheer about in the third inning. The Cougar freshman belted a grand slam, her first home run of the season. Lanphier led the Cougar offense with five RBIs in the opener.
Morehead State's Tanna Deuferer took the loss after giving up eight runs. Her record dropped to 3-8.
SIUE and Morehead State went back and forth in game two.
The Cougars scored on an infield error in the first inning but fell behind 2-1 in the top of the third inning when the Eagles picked up three singles and took advantage of SIUE's lone error.
Chelsea Yankolovich would tie up the game on the first pitch in the bottom of the third with her first home run of the season, a blast to left field.
Both teams added a pair of runs before Rachel Coonrod provided the eventual game winner in the fifth inning. Coonrod ripped a double off the left-field fence, scoring Chambers who had walked and stole second base.
Erin Greenwalt earned the victory in the nightcap, improving to 6-7 overall. She struck out nine Morehead State hitters. Megan Tymorek went the distance for Morehead State and fell to 4-10.
TENNESSEE TECH 5, MURRAY STATE 4; MURRAY STATE 9, TENNESSEE TECH 3
MURRAY, Ky. - The Tennessee Tech softball team rebounded after a tough loss, 5-4, in the opening tilt of Saturday's doubleheader with Murray State (17-18, 6-5), coming back to capture the second game. The Golden Eagles (11-29, 3-9) used a trio of big innings to get the job done in the double dip finale, scoring four in the third, two in the fifth, and three more in the sixth to take the game, 9-3.
Scoreless through two, Tech jumped on the board with a four spot in the top of the third inning. Freshman Gabby Perez started the four-run rally with a leadoff bunt single, before coming around to score one batter later on a Kayla Floyd bunt that saw two Racer errors allow Perez to touch up home and Floyd move all the way to third.
Junior Angi Sakamoto knocked Floyd in with a sacrifice fly to left to give the Golden Eagles a 2-0 advantage, before senior Kendall Hooper capped off the third inning scoring with a two-run home run to left field, the Hermitage, Tenn. native's third round tripper of the season, all coming in conference play.
Hooper ended the game going 2-for-3 with a walk, two runs scored, and two RBI's, ending the twin bill with two extra-base hits after doubling to lead off the fourth inning of game one. Sakamoto combined for four RBI's in the two games, adding to her team lead of 21 on the season.
Murray State jumped back into the affair with a three-run bottom of the fourth, scoring on a Taylor Odom RBI two-bagger, a double steal that saw Odom swipe home, and an Erica Howard RBI single that brought around freshman Cayla Levins with the third Racer run to cut the deficit to 4-3.
Only up a run heading into the top of the fifth, Tech gave themselves some breathing room with a two-run frame, thanks to a wild pitch that scored sophomore Madison Taylor and an RBI groundout off the bat of Chelsea Burgess that plated Hooper to give the Golden Eagles a 6-3 edge.
TTU essentially put the game on ice behind a three-run sixth inning. Sophomore Cortney Fry kicked off the frame with an infield single, before being erased on a Gabby Perez fielder's choice one batter later. With one out and one on, Kayla Floyd singled through the right side to push Perez to third, while Floyd moved all the way to second on the throw.
Up stepped Sakamoto, who drove in both Perez and Floyd with a two-run single up the middle, pushing Tech to an 8-3 lead. After a Madison Taylor single and a double steal put runners on second and third with still only one down, freshman Alyssa Richards scored Sakamoto on a sacrifice fly to center to wrap up the scoring at 9-3.
Aside from a shaky fourth inning, sophomore Hannah Weaver (4-15) was lights out for the Golden Eagles, going the distance for her fourth win of the year. The Corona, Calif. native scattered seven hits, walked four, and struck out two.
Murray junior CheyAnne Gaskey (7-10) suffered the loss after going 4 1/3 innings, giving up five runs (four earned) on five hits.
Racer sophomore Shelbey Miller played a key role in giving Murray State an early 2-0 early as the 5-4 second baseman from Goreville, Ill. led off the bottom of the first with a home run, before doubling in a run in the second.
Tech showed resiliency though, charging back with three runs in the fourth to take a 3-2 lead. Kendall Hooper and Chelsea Burgess began the frame with consecutive doubles, cutting the deficit in half on Burgess' two-bagger. The pair of doubles chased Murray starting pitcher Mason Robinson (6-6), with the Racers handing the ball over to sophomore J.J. Francis (4-2).
The 5-10 righty from Louisville, Ky. retired Alyssa Richards on a roller to second that advanced Burgess to third, leading to a Cortney Fry game-tying RBI bunt single to pull Tech even at 2-2. Fry advanced to second on a pass ball, moved to third on a Gabby Perez groundout, and then scored on Racer error to give the Golden Eagles a 3-2 advantage.
Up 3-2 heading into the bottom of the fourth, Tech relinquished the lead after Cayla Levins smacked an RBI single to left field, plating Taylor Odom who began the inning with a leadoff triple. An inning later, Murray took the lead for good as Odom drilled a two-run home run to right center to push the Racers ahead 5-3.
The Golden Eagles chopped the deficit in a half with an Angi Sakamoto RBI single up the middle to score red-shirt junior Christian Gibbs in the top of the sixth, but the comeback bid was halted after Tech put runners on first and second with two down, and reliever CheyAnne Gaskey came on to retire junior Hannah Eldridge to end the sixth.
The Golden Eagles put two more on in the seventh on a pair of walks to Chelsea Burgess and Corntey Fry, but Gaskey retired Gabby Perez on a bouncer to third to end the game for her second save of the season.
J.J. Francis earned the win in relief, throwing 2 2/3 innings, surrendering two runs (one earned) while allowing four hits. Tech freshman Danielle Liberatore was tagged with the loss, pitching 5 2/3 innings and allowing five earned on six hits.
TTU managed seven hits, four of them doubles with Madison Taylor, Kendall Hooper, Chelsea Burgess, and Alyssa Richards picking up two-baggers. Angi Sakamoto was the only Golden Eagle to collect at least two hits in the game, going 2-for-3 with a walk.
EASTERN KENTUCKY 2, EASTERN ILLINOIS 1; EASTERN ILLINOIS 1, EASTERN KENTUCKY 0
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Eastern Illinois softball split a pair of one-run games to open the home Ohio Valley Conference slate, as the Panthers downed visiting Eastern Kentucky, 1-0, in the nightcap after previously dropping a tough opener, 2-1, in nine-innings.
Panthers move to 24-11 overall and 5-4 in league action, while the Colonels of EKU drop to 17-13 and 5-3, respectively. EIU returns to home action afternoon, hosting Morehead State in a 1 p.m. doubleheader.
In what turned into a pair of classic pitching duels, seniors Stephanie Maday and Hanna Mennenga picked up a respective win and loss on the day, as the pair combined for 21 total Ks, with Mennenga retiring 11 batters in the first game loss, while Maday fanned 10 EKU players in the nightcap shutout.
EKU junior Leanna Pittsenbarger threw a gem of a game for the Colonels in the opening contest as she set a new EKU single-game mark with 18 strikeouts to continue to pace the entire league in Ks for the season.
In the nightcap, EIU got on board in the bottom of the third as senior Brooke Owens drilled an RBI double to left field to plate sophomore Haylee Beck from third. Owens finished with a 2-for-3 plate performance in the win.
That would be all the offense EIU would need as Maday held the Colonels in check, allowing just two hits as the visitors were held to a super-low .091 batting mark.
Sophomore Jennette Isaac continued her hot play as she added respective hits in both games to extend her OVC-leading hitting streak to 15 games.
In the first game heartbreaker, both Mennenga and Pittsenbarger pitched nearly inning-for-inning before junior Hannah Cole blasted a walk-up solo bomb over the left field fence to give EIU the one-run lead in the bottom of the seventh.
Unfortunately the visiting Colonels would counter with their own solo homer in the top of the fourth to knot the score, as the game eventually moved to extra innings. EIU had several chances to possibly win in walk-off fashion as the Panthers stranded runners in both the eighth and ninth innings.
With an EIU runner on second and two out in the ninth, junior Bailey O'Dell drilled a shot to right centerfield, which normally would have easily tied the score, but a huge diving catch by the Colonel's rightfielder Nicole Heitz would help the East Division foe secure the hard-fought one-run road win.
For the day, Isaac, Owens and Hutchinson all went 2-for-7 at the plate, with senior Carly Willert joining Owens with a double.
Owens and Hutchinson tied Beck with a stolen base as well, while O'Dell had a fine game defensively with a team-best five assists in the infield.
Team-wise, out-paced EKU in hits (nine-to-seven), yet neither squad hit all that well considering the pitching battle, but EIU did finish by out-hitting EKU (.170-to-.135) in the doubleheader.
UT MARTIN 6, TENNESSEE STATE 5; UT MARTIN 4, TENNESSEE STATE 3
MARTIN, Tenn. - he Tigers came up short in both games at UT Martin on Saturday in Ohio Valley Conference play. Tennessee State fell behind after an early lead, only to fight back before falling 6-5 on a rarely often seen play in game one. In the night cap, it took 11 innings to decide the winner, but the Skyhawks walked away with a 4-3 victory.
UT Martin improves to 19-16-1, 7-3 in OVC play. With the two heartbreakers, TSU drops to 14-25, 2-9 in conference.
The Tigers outhit UTM in the opening game of the day, 10-6. Ashley Haynes led the way with a 4-for-4 performance, including a clutch RBI single in the seventh. Haynes was one of seven Tigers to record a hit off Skyhawks pitching.
TSU opened the scoring in the first as Amber Burgess, who reached on an error and stole second base, crossed home plate on a ground out off the bat of Jayna Hanawahine. Haynes provided the second run of the game in the second inning, as she scored on an infield single by Kiarra Freeman to make the score 2-0.
The lead was short-lived, as UTM received a 3-run home run by Taylor Manning in the bottom of the second making the score 3-2. The Skyhawks would add to their lead with a run in the fifth, increasing their lead to 4-2.
TSU came charging back in the sixth with four hits, a walk and a sacrifice fly. Kate Morris led off the inning with a double, but was thrown out at home trying to score on a single by Haynes, who took second on the throw home. Rebekka Gross drove a ball into right field for a hit and moved to second as the ball got behind the fielder. Haynes was off on the crack of the bat and never broke stride to score easily and cutting the UTM lead to one.
After a walk to Freeman and a bunt single by Tayler Shimizu, Liz Stansberry hit a fly ball deep enough into centerfield, giving Gross enough time to scamper home to tie the game at 4-4.
UTM bounced back in their half of the inning with a two-out solo home run off starting pitcher Hannah St. Clair. The freshman pitcher would face one more batter before exiting the game. St. Clair scattered five hits and a walk as she was charged with five earned runs. Shea Morris would enter and strike out the lone batter she faced in the sixth.
Hanawahine gave TSU a runner in scoring position with a one-out double down the left field line. The sophomore advanced to third on a Kate Morris ground out and setting up the clutch at bat by Haynes. After falling behind 0-2, the Knoxville native delivered her fourth hit of the game into left field to plate Hanawahine and tie the game at 5-5.
The hard fought comeback went for not, as UTM put together a two-out rally. One out away from heading to extra innings, Shea Morris plunked Kayla Wade with a pitch giving UTM a base runner in the form of their leading base stealer. Wade wasted no time swiping second base and was able to move to third as the throw from Gross hit the runner and bounced into left center.
The Tigers intentionally walked the three-hole hitter Kenzi Tate to put runners on the corners. But before the Tigers could face another batter, Gross’ return throw to Morris sailed over the pitchers head allowing Wade to race home to score the game-ending run.
TSU would run into another heartbreaker in game two proved to be a pitcher’s duel that would need four extra innings to play. Courtney Gearlds charged home on a wild pitch in the third inning for an early 1-0 lead. Gearlds had reached on her first hit of the day and moved to second on a Shimizu walk and to third on a Stansberry sacrifice bunt.
The Tigers tried to add another run in the inning, but Shimizu was caught coming home on a failed squeeze attempt.
Shea Morris would not surrender a hit until the fourth inning and gave up her first run in the fifth. With two outs and runners on the corners, UTM attempted a double steal. The runner on first stopped half way to second trying to draw a throw. Gross would make the throw to Burgess covering second, which gave the Skyhawks runner on third a chance to score to tie the game at 1-1.
The score would stand until the 10th inning as the Tigers pushed a run across in the first inning of the international tiebreaker. Hanawahine, the final out of the ninth inning, was placed on second and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Kate Morris. Haynes followed with a ground ball to third, catching Hanawahine off base. The sophomore would get into a run down and scored on an errant throw. UT Martin evened the score with a run in the bottom of the inning to force the 11th.
Gross was placed on second and advanced to third on a Gearlds ground out. Shimizu would pick up the RBI as she ripped a single up the middle to plate Gross. Stansberry followed with a line drive single into center moving Shimizu to second, but the two were stranded on base.
With one out and Wade on third, the Skyhawks attempted a squeeze bunt. Shea Morris fielded and threw the ball home ahead of the runner to Gross. The Tigers thought they had eliminated the threat, but the home plate umpire ruled Wade had managed to sneak in to home through freshman catcher.
The Skyhawks would collect just their sixth hit of the game off Shea Morris with two outs, which allowed Wilson to reach home just before the relay throw home.
Morris suffered the loss in both games and drops to 8-10. The junior gave up six hits in 11.2 innings on the day, along with five runs, two earned, four walks and five strikeouts.
Brooke Kennedy pitched 2.1 innings on the day and earned the wins in both games, improving to 3-1. Kennedy replaced Casey Vincent who tossed 10.1 innings surrendering four hits and four walks, while striking out 14.