WEDNESDAY'S SCORES
@Southeast Missouri 4, Southern Illinois 3 (10)
Evansville 15,
@Austin Peay 8
Evansville 3,
@Austin Peay 2 (8)
@Tennessee 7,
Eastern Kentucky 2
@Tennessee 7,
Eastern Kentucky 4
@Western Kentucky 5,
Murray State 1
@Western Kentucky 6,
Murray State 5
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 4, SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 3
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - - Savannah Carpenter scored the winning run on an error in the bottom of the 10th inning to give Mark Redburn his 100th career victory as an NCAA Division I head coach Wednesday when Southeast Missouri (10-18) edged Southern Illinois (13-18-1), 4-3.
Southeast picked up its fourth-straight win and was victorious in extra innings for the first time this year.
The Redhawks and Salukis were tied after nine innings when the international tiebreaker rule went into effect.
Kalyn Harker was placed on second base to start the 10th and immediately advanced to third on a SAC-bunt by Merri Ann Patterson. A great defensive play by India Davis then kept SIU off the board. Davis made a sliding catch on a fly ball by Shaye Harre in foul territory. After making the catch, Davis quickly threw out Harker on a close play at the plate.
Carpenter took second base during the Redhawks final at-bat in the 10th. Taylor McDannold laid down a bunt to get Carpenter to third and Savannah Fisher mis-handled the throw at first base. Carpenter was able to score on the error, securing Southeast's walkoff win.
Southeast took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the fifth when Shelby Eccles knocked in pinch-runner Nicole Deering and later scored on a fielder's choice.
SIU capitalized on three errors to plate two unearned runs and tie the game at 2-2 in the sixth.
The Salukis took their first lead on a one-out solo home run by Sydney Jones in the eighth.
Southeast, however, countered when Riley Hayes drove in McDannoled on a one-out double to right center during its at-bat in the eighth.
Madeline Krumrey claimed her fourth-straight complete game victory and improved to 7-6 this season. Krumrey allowed eight hits and three runs (two unearned) in her longest outing this year. She also recorded a season-high nine strikeouts and issued just one walk. Krumrey tossed seven scoreless innings, as well.
Katie Bertelsen (11-9) was credited with the loss in relief. Bertelsen allowed a run and one hit, while striking out two and walking two in two innings.
Offensively, the Redhawks finished with seven hits. Kayla Fortner went 2-for-2 with three walks and Eccles went 2-for-4 with a run scored and a walk to lead the way.
Kelsey Gonzalez led SIU with three hits.
TENNESSEE 7, EASTERN KENTUCKY 2; TENNESSEE 7, EASTENR KENTUCKY 4
KNOXVILLE, Tenn - Nationally-ranked Tennessee took down the Eastern Kentucky University softball team in a pair of games Wednesday evening by scores of 7-2 and 7-4. The No. 11 Lady Volunteers have now won nine of their last 11 games.
Senior Katie Tackett led EKU’s (15-22) offensive output. The first baseman tallied a two-run single in the fourth inning of game one and a two-run home run to right field in the nightcap. Over the last six games, Tackett is hitting .368 (7-of-19) with three home runs and 11 RBIs.
Tennessee’s (29-9) Megan Geer produced the big hit in the game one victory. Geer notched a three-run homer as part of a four-run third inning to put the Lady Vols ahead, 6-0.
In game two, the Colonels committed four errors allowing Tennessee to score three unearned runs. Meghan Gregg hit a two-run shot in the bottom of the first to quickly give UT a 2-0 lead. The Lady Vols added three more runs in the second, partly due to three EKU miscues, to extend the lead to 5-1.
Sophomore Amber Murray, who finished 2-for-4 at the plate in the second game, came through with a run-scoring double in the third inning to cut the deficit to 5-2. However, Tennessee added two more runs in the fourth to push the cushion to 7-2.
The Colonels finally return home for a three-game series this weekend against OVC foe Tennessee State. The two teams will begin with a doubleheader on Saturday, April 11 starting at 4 p.m.
EVANSVILLE 15, AUSTIN PEAY 8; EVANSVILLE 3, AUSTIN PEAY 2
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Austin Peay State University’s softball team lost a slugfest and a pitcher’s duel versus Evansville, Wednesday at Cheryl Holt Field, dropping a 15-8 decision in the opener and a 3-2 final -- in eight innings -- in the nightcap.
The Lady Govs (8-23) fell behind the Purple Aces 4-0 after two-and-a-half innings, in Game 1, but rallied for six runs in the bottom of the third to take a 6-4 lead.
Evansville (9-30) would get the first out in the bottom of the third inning, but Chandler Groves, Laurel Burroughs and Christiana Gable followed with three straight hits to load the bases.
That brought up Niya Sparks, who blasted a 1-1 pitch over the center field wall for her seventh home run of the season, which tied the game 4-4.
Morgan Hoeg and Mel Pavel would follow the Sparks home run with back-to-back singles, and after a ground out, both scored on a single by Rikki Arkansas.
But the Lady Govs couldn’t slow the Purple aces offense, as they answered right back with five runs of their own in the top of the fourth to take the lead, 9-6.
Austin Peay would cut the deficit to one run, 9-8, in the bottom of the inning on a two-run homer by Gable – her seventh of the year.
But that would be as close as the Lady Govs would get the rest of the way, with Evansville scoring two more times in the top of the fifth inning and four more times in the sixth for the 15-8 final.
The Lady Govs would get off to a better start in Game 2, jumping out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning on a double off the fence by Vinchenza DiBenedetto – driving in Burroughs, who had singled.
The score would remain that way until the top of the fourth inning, when Evansville tied the game 1-1 on a two-out double.
The Purple Aces would take the lead in the top of the sixth with a run, but Austin Peay answered right back in the bottom of the inning with an RBI double from Groves, bring in Arkansas, who had opened the inning with a single.
The game would go into extra innings, after both teams failed to score in the seventh – the first extra-inning game of the year for Austin Peay.
Evansville would push across what turned out to be the game-winning run in the top of the eighth when Lady Govs starting pitcher Natalie Ayala hit Chandra Parr with a pitch with the bases loaded to force in a run.
Austin Peay would get the tying run to third, with no outs, but Evansville would retire the next three Lady Govs in order to seal away the victory.
WESTERN KENTUCKY 5, MURRAY STATE 1; WESTERN KENTUCKY 6, MURRAY STATE 5
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - The Murray State softball team lost both game s of a doubleheader to in-state foe Western Kentucky on Wednesday night, 5-1 and 6-5, at the WKU Softball Complex in Bowling Green.
Game one was controlled by WKU (22-5) from the get-go with 2015 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year finalist Miranda Kramer striking out the first six Racers she faced. Murray State (22-14) was able to muster just three hits off of Kramer, including a seventh inning home run from Cayla Levins, but it was not enough, as the Racers fell 5-1.
Levins, along with Zierke and Miller, were the only Racers to hit Kramer in the contest, who ended the day with 15 strikeouts. CheyAnne Gaskey (11-7) took the loss for MSU, allowing five runs on seven hits with three strikeouts and a walk.
Game two seemed to be a different story as Murray State manufactured three runs in the first, to take the early lead. However, the Lady Toppers answered in the second with two runs of their own to cut the lead to one.
Jocelynn Rodger re-cushioned the lead for MSU in the fifth with a two-run blast to extend the lead to 5-2. In the sixth, Larissa Franklin took advantage of a Racer error on a Dani Pugh hit to trim the lead to 5-3
However, in the bottom of the seventh; it all fell apart for Murray State. The Racers found themselves in a bases loaded jam with just one out after allowing two singles and a walk to start the frame. Brooke Holloway tied the game at five with a RBI single and was followed by Franklin who sent one out to centerfield allowing two runs to cross the plate for the come-from-behind, walk-off win.
Miller was 3-for-4 in the contest with a RBI, while Mo Ramsey and Maggie Glass were 1-for-2 with a run and two walks each. Mason Robin (10-4) took the loss, as she gave up six runs, five earned, on 10 hits with two strikeouts and two walks.
The Racers will return to OVC action this weekend when they host Southeast Missouri for a three-game series. Both Saturday’s doubleheader and Sunday’s single game are scheduled for 1 p.m. starts.