Softball Report - March 23 (PDF)
This Week's Games
MONDAY, MARCH 23
Eastern Illinois at
Morehead State* (2) - 12:30 p.m.
Southeast Missouri at
Jacksonville State* (2) - 1 p.m.
TUESDAY, MARCH 24
Arkansas at
Jacksonville State - 4 p.m.
Southern Illinois at
Murray State - 4 p.m.
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25
Samford at
Austin Peay (2) - 1 p.m.
East Tennessee State at
Morehead State (2) - 1 p.m.
Missouri State at
SIUE - 1 p.m. (OVCDN)
UT Martin at Middle Tennessee (2) - 3 p.m.
Tennessee Tech at No. 14 Tennessee - 5 p.m
SATURDAY, MARCH 28
Morehead State at
Eastern Kentucky* (2) - 12 p.m. (OVCDN)
Austin Peay at
UT Martin* (2) - 1 p.m.
Belmont at
Tennessee Tech* (2) - 1 p.m. (OVCDN)
Murray State at
Eastern Illinois* (2) - 1 p.m.
Tennessee State at
Jacksonville State* (2) - 1 p.m.
SIUE at
Southeast Missouri* (2) - 1 p.m.
SUNDAY, MARCH 29
Morehead State at
Eastern Kentucky* - 12 p.m. (OVCDN)
Austin Peay at
UT Martin* - 1 p.m.
Belmont at
Tennessee Tech* - 1 p.m. (OVCDN)
Murray State at
Eastern Illinois* - 1 p.m.
Tennessee State at
Jacksonville State* - 1 p.m.
SIUE at
Southeast Missouri* - 1 p.m.
ALL TIMES CENTRAL
* - OVC Game
adidas® OVC Players of the Week - March 23
PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
Kayla Fortner, OF, Sr., 5-7, Cedar Hill, Mo. - Southeast Missouri
Fortner hit .556 in Southeast Missouri's six games last week. She went 10-for-18 with four runs scored, four doubles, a home run and 12 RBI. She just missed hitting for the cycle in the OVC opener against UT Martin, going 3-for-3 with two runs scored, a home run, a double and three RBI. Against Tennessee Tech, she went 4-for-4. She leads the league with a .500 batting average and is hitting .750 with a 1.250 slugging percentage through four OVC games.
Others Nominated: Christiana Gable, Austin Peay; Kat Hollingsworth, Belmont; Bailey O'Dell, Eastern Illinois; Sarah Jackson, Eastern Kentucky; Ella Denes, Jacksonville State; Jessica Twaddle, Murray State; Rebecca Gray, SIUE; Courtney Gearlds, Tennessee State; Olivia Bennett, Tennessee Tech; Carly Gonzales, UT Martin
PITCHER OF THE WEEK:
Haley Chambers, P, Jr., 5-7, Coastesville, Ind. - SIUE
Chambers tossed her second career perfect game against Morehead State. It also marked her fourth career no-hitter. She struck out 17 straight Eagles en route to a career-high 20 strikeouts. It was one shy of the Division I record set in 1991 by Michele Granger of California. She needed just 87 pitches for the seven-inning win. Of the 46 OVC batters she faced this weekend, 33 struck out. She recorded 13 strikeouts in the Cougars' win over Eastern Kentucky. Chambers posted a strikeout-to-walk of 18.5 to 1 for the week. She leads the league with 13 victories this year.
Others Nominated: Carolyn Snodgress, Belmont; Hannah Rachor, Eastern Illinois; Shaylon Robb, Eastern Kentucky; Taylor West, Jacksonville State; CheyAnne Gaskey, Murray State; Danielle Liberatore, Tennessee Tech; Elizabeth Wiegand, UT Martin.
2015 OVC Softball Team Notes
AUSTIN PEAY (3-17 overall, 2-5 OVC):Austin Peay went 2-5 last week as it picked up wins over Eastern Illinois and Tennessee State. The Lady Govs dropped both ends of a double header to Belmont while also falling to the Panthers and Lady Tigers. The win over EIU marked the first OVC opening win for Austin Peay since 2008. Sophomore Christiana Gable recorded a hit in each game last week to give her a team-high .480 batting average. She had 12 hits, six runs scored, three doubles, two home runs and nine RBI. Senior Laurel Burroughs stole six bases last week to give her 12 on the season, the most by a Lady Govs player since 2009. Austin Peay will host Samford for a doubleheader on Wednesday before traveling to UT Martin for a three-game series this weekend.
BELMONT (8-17 overall, 3-3 OVC): Belmont dropped both ends of a doubleheader with Memphis, split a pair of games with Murray State and swept a twinbill with Austin Peay last week. Senior Kat Hollingsworth recorded seven hits last week, including three doubles and one triple. She also scored three times and drove in four. Junior Carolyn Snodgress picked up a pair of wins in the circle last week. She struck out nine in 21.0 innings of work. Belmont will travel to Tennessee Tech for a three game series this weekend.
EASTERN ILLINOIS (7-14 overall, 2-3 OVC): Eastern Illinois went 2-1 against Austin Peay and dropped both ends of a doubleheader with Eastern Kentucky last week. The Panthers had their doubleheader at Morehead State postponed until Monday. Eastern Illinois will also host Murray State for a three game series this weekend.
EASTERN KENTUCKY (13-16 overall, 4-2 OVC): Eastern Kentucky dropped a pair to Dayton and lost both ends of a doubleheader with SIUE before taking two from Eastern Illinois last week. Freshman Sarah Jackson hit safely in four of the six games last week. She became the first EKU player this season to hit two home runs in a game. She went 2-for-2 with two home runs and five RBI in the second game versus EIU. On the week, Jackson had six hits, four runs scored, one double, two home runs and 10 RBI. Senior Shaylon Robb earned her first career complete game shutout in the first win over the Panthers. She retired 15 straight Panthers at one point in the win. Eastern Kentucky will host a three-game series with Morehead State this weekend.
JACKSONVILLE STATE (18-7 overall, 2-0 OVC): Jacksonville State defeated No. 25 UAB before taking two from UT Martin last week. The win over UAB was the first victory over a ranked opponent since the Gamecocks beat No. 13 Tennessee twice in the 2009 NCAA Knoxville Regional. JSU has now won six in a row and 10 of its last 11. Junior Ella Denes hit safely in all three games, including a grand slam in the first inning versus UAB. She finished the week with four runs scored, two home runs and six RBI. Sara Borders ran her career home run total to 38, tying Nikki Prier for third all-time in school history. Jacksonville State will host Southeast Missouri for two on Monday, Arkansas for a single game on Tuesday and Tennessee State for a three-game series this weekend.
MOREHEAD STATE (8-12 overall, 0-2 OVC): Morehead State took two from Pikeville before dropping both ends of a doubleheader with SIUE. Junior Tressa Watson and freshman Laine Simmons each hit home runs versus Pikeville. Both players now have a team-best three homers this year. Freshman Mackenzie Grossmann went 1-1 in the circle last week with a 0.84 ERA. She held opponents to a .133 batting average in 16.2 innings while walking just two and striking out eight. The Eagles will host Eastern Illinois for a pair on Monday and East Tennessee State for two on Wednesday before traveling to Eastern Kentucky for a three-game series this weekend.
MURRAY STATE (16-10 overall, 4-3 OVC): Murray State dropped two to Kentucky and split a doubleheader with Belmont before sweeping a twinbill with Tennessee State last week. Sophomore Jessica Twaddle batted .500 and had a hit in five of the six games last week. She also walked once and was hit by two pitches to give her a .556 on-base percentage. She drive on four runs and scored seven times. In the first game with Tennessee State, Twaddle was a perfect 3-for-3 with three runs and was a triple short of the cycle. The Racers will host Southern Illinois on Tuesday before traveling to Eastern Illinois for a three-game series this weekend.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI (5-12 overall, 2-2 OVC): Southeast Missouri split a twinbill with UT Martin, dropped a pair to Indiana State and went 1-1 at Tennessee Tech last week. Senior Kayla Fortner hit .556 with four runs scored, four doubles, one home run and 12 RBI. She nearly hit for the cycle against UT Martin as she went 3-for-3 with a home run, one double, two runs scored and three RBI. She now has a team-high seven home runs on the season. Freshman pitcher Madeline Krumrery improved to 2-0 in OVC play, tossing two scoreless innings in relief to pick up the win over UT Martin and struck out four in five innings to beat Tennessee Tech. The Redhawks registered double-digit hits twice last week. Southeast Missouri has had 10 or more hits five times this season. The Redhawks will travel to Jacksonville State for a pair on Monday before returning home to host SIUE for a three-game series this weekend.
SIUE (23-6 overall, 6-1 OVC): SIUE defeated Bradley before taking two at Eastern Kentucky and Morehead State. Senior Rebecca Gray collected a team-leading nine hits for the week. She scored the winning run in the first game over Morehead State. She recorded one hit in every game last week. For the week, she hit .474 with five runs scored and three RBI. Junior Haley Chambers went 3-0 with a 0.76 ERA last week. She tossed her second career perfect game as she struck out 20 in the win over Morehead State. The 20 strikeouts is one off the Division I record of 21 set by Michele Granger of California in 1991. For the week, she struck out 37 and walked just two in 18.1 innings of work. Rebecca Gray hit .474 for the week to raise her batting average to .360 for the season. The Cougars will host Missouri State on Wednesday before traveling to Southeast Missouri for a three-game series this weekend.
TENNESSEE STATE (9-18 overall, 2-2 OVC): Tennessee State dropped a pair to Lipscomb, split a doubleheader with Austin Peay and was swept by Murray State last week. Sophomore Courtney Gearlds hit .444 last week and had a .500 on-base percentage. She picked up hits in four of the five games she played in. She finished the week with six runs scored, one double, two triples, three RBI and two stolen bases. She now has four triples on the year which is tied for the league lead. Tennessee State will travel to Jacksonville State for a three-game series this weekend.
TENNESSEE TECH (17-13 overall, 4-3 OVC): Tennessee Tech took two from Samford before splitting doubleheaders with Southeast Missouri and UT Martin last week. Junior Olivia Bennett hit .316 over the six games. She scored five runs and drove in three. Bennett also recorded one double and three home runs. Sophomore pitcher Danielle Liberatore went 2-0 last week with one shutout. In the win over UT Martin, she struck out a Tech single-game record with 16 strikeouts. She finished the week with 30 strikeouts while walking just five in 18.2 innings of work. Tennessee Tech will travel to No. 14 Tennessee on Wednesday before hosting Belmont for a three-game series this weekend.
UT MARTIN (13-13 overall, 2-4 OVC): UT Martin split a doubleheader with Southeast Missouri, took from Evansville, dropped a pair to Jacksonville State and went 1-1 at Tennessee Tech last week. Sophomore Carly Gonzales broke or tied six UT Martin single-game records against Evansville with three home runs, four hits, four runs scored, seven RBI and 13 total bases in the seven inning game. Kenzie Tate hit three home runs and drove in eight while Kelsey Dixon had eight hits and stole four bases. Sophomore pitcher Elizabeth Wiegand went 2-1 in the circle and recorded a save last week. She pitched three complete games and held opponents to a .213 batting average. UT Martin will travel to Middle Tennessee for a doubleheader on Wednesday before returning home to host a three-game series with Austin Peay.