SUNDAY'S SCORES
@SIUE 3, UT Martin 0
@SIUE 3, UT Martin 2
Jacksonville State 14, @Belmont 1 (4)
@Murray State 5, Austin Peay 2
Eastern Ilinois 7, @Southeast Missouri 4
@Tennessee State 4, Morehead State 0
JACKSONVILLE STATE 14, BELMONT 1
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Jacksonville State softball team scored early and often on Sunday afternoon, when the Gamecocks claimed the series from Belmont with a 14-1 mercy-rule win over the Bruins.
The Gamecocks (32-15, 15-6 Ohio Valley Conference) plated two runs in the first and five in the second to take control of the game and never looked back. They would score in every inning but one, including another five-run frame in the fifth before finishing off the Bruins (11-31, 6-15 OVC) in five innings.
Eight different Gamecocks recorded at least one hit and six players had at least one RBI in the win that came one day after the two teams split a doubleheader to open the three-game series.
Sophomore Stephanie Lewis and junior Cadi Oliver each went 2-for-2 at the plate, while Lewis and junior Ella Denes each drove in three runs in the game. Senior Savannah Sloan also had a pair of hits and drove in a run.
Sophomore Taylor West (11-4) grabbed the win in the circle for the Gamecocks after holding the Bruins to a run on four hits in a five-inning complete game. She also struck out two in the win.
Katie Clancy (1-6) suffered the loss after giving up six runs on six hits and three walks in 2 1/3 innings. Carolyn Snodgress allowed three runs on three hits and three walks in 1/2/3 innings, while Shelby Willard gave up the other five runs on two hits and three walks in one inning in the circle.
Lewis got JSU on the board early with a two-out, two-run single in the first, and a two-run triple from Denes in the second made it a 4-0 game. Sloan followed with an RBI double and senior Sara Borders cleared the bases with a two-run homer that gave JSU a 7-0 lead in the second.
Borders' homer was her second of the weekend and her seventh in the past eight games. The Alexandria, Ala., native now leads the team and is tied for the OVC lead with 16 and runs her career total to 47, second to Daniela Pappano's school record of 53.
Belmont got one run in the second, but JSU got two in the third on a bases-loaded hit by pitch of Oliver and a Lewis sac fly to make it a 9-1 game. An Oliver RBI double, an RBI single from Melanie Steer and a sac fly from Denes highlighted the five-run fifth that put the deciding 14-1 score on the board.
MURRAY STATE 5, AUSTIN PEAY 2
MURRAY, Ky. - The Murray State softball team picked up a 5-2 Senior Day win over Austin Peay Sunday at Racer Field to complete the three-game sweep of the Lady Govs. The win also gives the Racers their first ever undefeated OVC home slate at 12-0.
Murray State (32-16, 17-7 OVC) was first on the board in the game, when Shelbey Miller singled in the third to score Alexa Becker, who walked earlier in the inning. In the fourth, Murray State scored again on an identical play, this time with Becker getting the hit and Cayla Levins scoring.
Taylor Odom would score later in the fourth on another RBI-single, this one from the bat of Mo Ramsey. Still in the fourth, Murray State extended its lead to 4-0 when Alexa Becker stole home.
The Racers would tack on an insurance run in the fifth when Jocelynn Rodgers reached on error, allowing Miller to score from third after beginning the stanza with a triple. The Lady Govs (9-34, 5-19 OVC) finally cut into the lead in the top of the sixth when Laurel Burroughs homered with a runneron, to trim the MSU lead to 5-2. However, those would be the last runs of the day scored by either team, as the Racers hung on for the 5-2 win.
Becker ended her senior day by going 2-for-3 with two runs, a RBI, a stolen base and a walk, while Shelbey Miller was 2-for-4 with a run and a RBI. Levins also had two hits in the game, to go along with a run.
Cheyanne Gaskey picked up her 17th win of the season Sunday by allowing two runs on five hits with seven strikeouts and three walks over a full seven innings. The 17 wins by Gaskey is a new program single-season best, as she now hold the first, second and fourth highest single-season win totals in school history.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 7, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 4
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Eastern Illinois (17-24, 12-10) scored seven runs on nine hits in the final three innings to beat Southeast Missouri (15-24, 9-12), 7-4, Sunday afternoon at the Southeast Softball Complex.
Down, 1-0, after four innings, EIU took its first lead of the series when it plated three runs in the fifth.
Hannah Rachor singled down the right field line and went to third on a single by April Markowski. Pinch-hitter Andrea Roberts laid down a bunt single on the next play and Rachor scored to tie the game. Bailey O'Dell followed with a bunt single to score the go-ahead run and Hannah Cole delivered a single to left center, giving the Panthers a 3-1 cushion.
Lindsey Patterson's RBI-single quickly narrowed EIU's lead to 3-2 in the bottom of the fifth, but the Panthers responded with three more runs in the sixth.
O'Dell pushed across two runs on a double to right center and Cole added an infield single to score Haylee Beck, widening EIU's lead to 6-2.
The Panthers tacked on another run in the seventh on a sacrifice fly by Rachor before Southeast made a late push.
Kayla Fortner started off Southeast's final at-bat with an infield singl and scored on an ensuing double by Savannah Carpenter. Taylor McDannold's two-out single knocked in Carpenter, but that was as close as the Redhawks would get.
Jessica Wireman (10-11) went the distance, giving up four runs on 10 hits. Wireman struck out five and walked three, as well.
Madeline Krumrey (10-10) took the loss. Krumrey matched a season-high nine strikeouts in 5.2 innings of work. She also allowed 11 hits, six runs and two walks.
Offensively, Carpenter went 3-for-4 with a run scored and RBI, and Patterson finished at 2-for-4 with a run and two RBI to lead the Redhawks.
EIU, which had 13 hits, was led by Markowski, O'Dell, Cole and Rachor, who contributed two hits each.
Southeast honored seniors Patterson, Fortner, Alexis Anderson, Meaghan Touchette and Jamie Woodworth prior to the game. All five seniors were in the starting lineup.
TENNESSEE STATE 4, MOREHEAD STATE 0
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Taylor Green recorded the first shutout of the season for Tennessee State and helped snap an 18 game losing streak. The Tigers earned a 4-0 win over Morehead State on Sunday afternoon to close out a three game series at Tiger Field.
The 18 game slide was the longest for the Tigers since they lost 27 consecutive games from 1998-1999. The ’98 season ended with 19 losses and continued for the first eight games in ’99. TSU later went on to lose 17 straight in the ’99 season.
With the win, the Tigers improve to 10-34, 3-20 in the Ohio Valley Conference. The Eagles are now 21-20, 10-9 in conference.
Green controlled the Eagles from the start and did not yield a hit until Katie Raile to lead off the fifth inning. Raile beat out an infield hit, but was stranded at second to end the inning. Raile finished the day 2-for-2 with a walk and was the only Eagle to record a knock off Green.
The junior pitcher improved to 6-16 on the season as she scattered two hits and four walks, while fanning two batters.
The Tigers would score all they would need in the bottom half of the second inning. Kate Morris led off the frame with the first of three walks on the day and moved to second on a ground out by Lauren Dreitlein. Lindsey Burgess followed with hard single up the middle, chasing home Morris and collecting her team leading 21st RBI of the season.
TSU would add three insurance runs in the fifth as they sent nine batters to the plate. Burgess started the inning with another hard shot up the middle and advanced 60 feet as Tayler Shimizu shot a ball through the right side of the infield.
The Tigers would play station-to-station as Chelsea Buchanan laid down a sacrifice to move the runners into scoring position. Danica Gleason followed with a slow grounder back to starting pitcher Mackenzie Grossman. Burgess would break for home and snuck her hand onto the plate with a head first slide, just beating the toss home.
Courtney Gearlds continued the inning with a bunt single to load the bases with one out. Two pitches later Shimizu scampered home as Grossman uncorked a wild pitch to extend the TSU lead to 3-0. That would be the last pitch for the starter and left in favor of reliever Megan Tymorek.
With the bases loaded once again, and two outs, Morris collected her final walk of the game, bringing home Gearlds for the final run of the game.
Grossman (12-8) was tagged for the loss despite holding the Tigers to four hits and two walks with one strike out.
SIUE 3, UT MARTIN 0; SIUE 3, UT MARTIN 2
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Alex McDavid's walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the seventh lifted SIUE softball to a sweep Sunday over UT Martin at Cougar Field.
SIUE won the nightcap 3-2 after earning a 3-0 shutout in game one. With the series sweep, SIUE improved to 19-4 in the Ohio Valley Conference and 38-11 overall. UT Martin dropped to 24-23 overall and 9-12 in the OVC.
The Cougars will have one more OVC series to navigate before the end of the regular season. SIUE holds a 2 ½ game lead for first place on Murray State and a three-game lead on Jacksonville State heading into the final weekend. The regular season champion is based on conference winning percentage. SIUE will be on the road next weekend for a three-game series at in-state rival Eastern Illinois.
In game two, both SIUE and UT Martin held single-run leads and were deadlocked 2-2 going into the bottom of the seventh. SIUE managed just two hits over the first six innings against UT Martin starter Elizabeth Wiegand.
Rachel Keller led off the seventh with a single to left field. Tess Eby made a big play, a sacrifice bunt to move Keller over to second, and was greeted by the whole SIUE bench on her success when she came back to the dugout.
On Senior Day at Cougar Field, it certainly seemed appropriate that a senior would put the Cougars over the top. McDavid stepped up to the plate and ripped a single up the middle, allowing Keller to easily score from second. It was the 118th career RBI for McDavid, seventh all-time at SIUE.
Baylee Douglass, who earned the win in both games, pitched the final 2 2/3 innings after relieving starter Haley Chambers. The NFCA Freshman of the Year Watch List member improved to 16-5.
In game one, Rachel Keller provided the only RBI the Cougars eventually would need. With the bases loaded, she reached on an infield hit just to the left of the UT Martin third baseman. The single was handled by the Skyhawks' shortstop who had no throw as Haley Adrian scored on the play.
Douglass started the game and went 5 1/3 innings. With Douglass as the flex and Chambers as the designated player in the lineup, Chambers came into the game to pitch both the fifth and sixth innings with the bases loaded and two out. On both occasions, she fanned the only batter she faced and earned the final out with strikeouts.
Chambers finished the seventh inning and picked up her second save of the season.