SUNDAY'S SCORES
Eastern Kentucky 10, @Belmont 0
Eastern Kentucky 4, @Belmont 1
Murray State 7, @SIUE 2
@SIUE 6, Murray State 4
@Tennessee State 6, Tennessee Tech 1
Tennessee Tech 10, @Tennessee State 0 (6)
MURRAY STATE 7, SIUE 2; SIUE 6, MURRAY STATE 4
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - The SIUE softball team won its opening Ohio Valley Conference series of the season after a split Sunday at Cougar Field.
SIUE, which won game two 6-4, is now 18-6 with a 2-1 record in OVC play. Murray State, a 7-2 winner in the opening game Sunday, dropped to 13-7 overall and 1-2 in the OVC.
On Sunday, the Cougars opened the scoring in game one when Brittany Toney drew a bases-loaded walk in the first inning against Murray State starter CheyAnne Gaskey. However, SIUE stranded three runners not only in that first inning but also the third inning.
Murray State didn't tally its first run until the third inning on a solo home run by Alexa Becker. The Racers took the lead in the fourth on another solo homer by Jocelynn Rodgers. Murray State had 13 hits in all and used a four-run rally in the fifth to take a 6-1 lead.
Alex McDavid looked to restart SIUE's offense in the sixth with a solo home run, her second of the year. SIUE would be held to six hits.
Haley Chambers took the loss for SIUE in four innings of work and is now 10-3.
In game two, Murray State looked to keep its momentum with a two-run homer by Cayla Levins in the second inning.
SIUE bounced back with two runs of its own.
Tess Eby, an SIUE freshman playing in her first OVC game, drove home Rachel Keller from third base when Murray State second baseman Shelbey Miller's throw home wasn't in time.
The Cougars tied the game 2-2 moments later when Brittany Toney scored on an infield out by Haley Adrian.
SIUE freshman pitcher Baylee Douglass earned the victory and is now 7-2.
Adrian added a second RBI in the game to give the Cougars the lead 3-2 in the fourth inning. Keller scored on Adrian's fielder's choice as Murray State's Rodgers was pulled off the plate on the throw by pitcher Mason Robinson.
After Murray State tied the game in the top of the fifth, SIUE rallied for three runs in the bottom of the fifth.
Keller, Toney, and Eby each had RBIs in the inning. Eby's RBI was a double to center field that scored Allison Smiley.
TENNESSEE STATE 6, TENNESSEE TECH 1; TENNESSEE TECH 10, TENNESSEE STATE 0
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Tigers received a great pitching performance from Amber Galyon to earn a split with Tennessee Tech on Sunday at Tiger Field. The freshman pitcher earned her first win of her career as Tennessee State defeated the Golden Eagles 6-1 in the first of two Ohio Valley Conference games. TTU needed just six innings to claim a 10-0 win in game two.
TSU is now 8-12 on the season and 1-2 after the opening weekend of conference play. TTU improved to 13-11, 2-1 in the OVC.
Galyon was faced 11 batters and was touched for five hits, a walk and one run over the first two innings in game one. The Aqua, Tenn. native found a groove allowing just two hits and three base runners over the final five innings, while facing 18 batters.
Galyon (1-4) ran into trouble in the first inning as Anji Sakamoto and Hannah Eldridge opened with back-to-back singles. The first-year hurler would get help from her teammates to escape the opening frame with Tech’s lone run.
Alyssa Richards drove a ball to right center, plating Sakamoto. The defense stood tall on the drive, as Courtney Gearlds would retrieve the ball at the fence and hit first baseman Lauren Dreitlein who threw a strike to Lindsey Burgess to cut down Eldridge at the plate.
TTU looked to revive the first with a walk, but Burgess came up firing to second base to pick off Richards who had wondered off second base.
The Tigers would pick up a run of its own in the bottom of the first as Gearlds would get things started with the first of her three hits in the game. The sophomore proceeded to steal second and move to third on a Kailey Richard sacrifice bunt. Dreitlein grounded out to Golden Eagles pitcher, Hannah Weaver, allowing Gearlds to cross home plate.
TSU added a run in the second as Tayler Shimizu dropped a hit into right center, chasing home Burgess, who had reached on a one-out walk.
In the third, TSU increased its lead to 3-1 as Joselyn Yates hit a ball just inside the right field line. Richard, who reached on a double to right center, came home on the Yates hit to give the Tigers a two rubn advantage.
Gearlds would get things going again in the fifth as she repeated her feat from the first, with a single and swiping second. She would score three batters later as Kate Morris ripped a double off the fence in left field. Yates followed with her own double to left center allowing Morris to touch home, making the score 5-1.
The Tigers picked up its final run as Gearlds ripped a triple to the right. Carionna Hassell trotted in from third to give TSU its final margin of victory.
The rubber match of the series followed the same pattern as the first game of the series on Saturday. Danielle Liberatore (8-5) was in complete control at the beginning as she retired the first 10 batters she faced.
The Tigers were down 7-0 before they could manage a base runner off the Golden Eagles pitcher. Liberatore finished the game with eight strikeouts opposed to five hits and a walk.
Taylor Green took the loss for the Tigers and is now 5-5 as she surrendered three runs, one earned off three hits and two walks in 1.2 innings.
Jasmine Matchen tossed the final 4.1 innings, but TTU was able to add another seven runs, five earned.
The Tech 11 hit attack was led by Eldridge, who finished the game 3-for-3 with a walk, three runs scored a home run and three runs batted in.
EASTERN KENTUCKY 10, BELMONT 0; EASTERN KENTUCKY 4, BELMONT 1
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Belmont softball couldn't overcome a big hitting effort from Eastern Kentucky (11-12) Sunday afternoon as the Bruins dropped a pair of contests to the Colonels, 10-0, 4-1. EKU went long a combined four times, tallying six runs, over the two contests.
GAME 1: EKU 10, Belmont 0 (5 inn.)
Eastern Kentucky tallied runs in four of the five innings and used a big effort from starting pitcher Leanna Pittsenbarger as the Colonels made short work of the Bruins in the first game of the conference opening doubleheader at Rose Park.
EKU tallied 12 hits on the contest, including a pair of home runs as sophomore Amber Murray hit a solo shot to left field to begin the second inning and senior Katie Tacket wen long on a two run blast to left center field in the top of the fourth.
Pittsenbarger had a tremendous effort in the circle for the visitors from Richmond, Kentucky, as the veteran held BU to just one hit in five innings of action while striking out seven Bruins on the contest.
BU's Kayla Wells (Bonney Lake, Wash.) was the only Bruins to record a hit as the sophomore broke up Pittsenbarger's no hitter attempt with a single center field in the third inning.
GAME 2: EKU 4, Belmont 1
Belmont recovered in the nightcap as the Bruins hung tough with the Colonels through most of the contest.
The power of the long ball proved to be the difference in the contest as three of EKU's four runs came curtesy of big hits.
With the Bruins trailing 1-0 after an inning of play, the Colonels used a solo blast from freshman Johnkyria Alston in the second inning and a two-run shot to center field from Paige Murphy in the fourth to pull ahead, 4-0.
The Bruins got on the board for the first time of the day as a double from Jordan Daly (Humble, Tex.) in the home half of the fourth drove in Jess Andree (Darien, Ill.).
The Bruins couldn't find enough offense the rest of the way as Belmont recorded just two hits over the next three as EKU captured the sweep on the day with a 4-1 victory.
Daly led the offense for the Bruins as the junior finished 2-for-3 at the plate, with a pair of doubles.