SUNDAY'S SCORES
SIUE 11, Sam Houston State 5
Middle Tennessee 8,
Tennessee Tech 2
Tennessee State 17, @Jackson State 11
UT Martin 8, Mississippi Valley State 0 (6)
Austin Peay 5, Saint Louis 4
Saint Louis 14,
Austin Peay 5
Eastern Illinois 10, Fort Wayne0 (5)
Murray State, 10, Kent State 0 (5)
Jacksonville State 10, Houston Baptist 0 (6)
Southeast Missouri 13, @Jackson State 2
@Kennesaw State 9, Morehead State 0 (5)
MIDDLE TENNESSEE 8, TENNESSEE TECH 2
STATESBORO, Ga. - The Tennessee Tech softball team continued its torrid home run pace, but couldn't hold off Middle Tennessee as the Golden Eagles wrapped up the Eagle Round Robin with a 8-2 loss to the Blue Raiders on Sunday morning.
Bayli Cruse went yard for fer first home run of the season, but the seventh overall for the Golden Eagles after the first weekend of play.
Pinch-runner Amity Brown gave Tech its other run of the contest, scoring as Cruse reached on a throwing error at second base.
The game was within reach until the fifth inning, when the Blue Raiders struck for five runs on five hits, including a two-run double for Summer Burgess.
MTSU also had home runs from Austyn Whaley and Lexi Cushing.
Leigh Ellen Thomas (L, 0-2) took the defeat, working 4 2/3 innings in the starting effort. She allowed seven runs on five hits as she walked one and struck out one. Kayla Hughes came on and worked the final inning-and-a-third, allowing one run on three hits as she walked one and struck out two.
Gretchen Greer picked up her second victory of the season, allowing two runs – one earned – on four hits. She walked one and struck out eight in six complete frames.
Up next for the Golden Eagles is the Chattanooga Challenge sponsored by Ruby Falls this upcoming weekend. Tech will face Chattanooga and Kennesaw State on Friday.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 10, FORT WAYNE 0
ROSEMONT, Ill. - The Eastern Illinois softball team closed out the Total Control Sports Invitational with another stellar 10-0 run-rule victory over Fort Wayne Sunday morning.
The Panthers hit two home runs during the game as Jessica Wireman recorded the victory throwing five strikeouts over four innings on the mound letting up only one hit.
EIU got on the board early in the top of the first inning after Kayla Bear reached first base on a throwing error. Bear eventually stole second as Taylor Monahan was walked on the following at-bat. Haley Mitchell eventually stepped up to the plate crushing a three-run home run over the left field wall to earn EIU's first home run of the season and put the Panthers on top 3-0.
The Panthers held their 3-0 lead throughout the next three innings until junior transfer Kiley Pelker hit a lead-off solo home run to open the seventh inning. EIU eventually loaded the bases with two outs as Taylor Miokovic came in to pinch hit. Miokovic cleared the bases with a double down the left field line to give EIU an 7-0 lead.
EIU loaded the bases once again in the inning following a walk and a single to the pitcher from Ashlynne Paul. Each runner advanced during the following at-bat as Mady Poulter came around to score on a wild pitch to extend the Panther lead to 8-0.
Pelker recorded her second and third RBIs of the inning on the next at-bat hitting a single to center field to clear the bases and give EIU a 10-0 lead at the end of the top of the seventh inning.
The Panthers recorded seven runs in the seventh inning off five hits.
Tori Johnson came in for relief in the bottom of the seventh inning, closing out the game forcing three ground-outs.
Mitchell, Miokovic, and Pelker all finished the game recording three RBIs.
Bear recorded four stolen bases against the Mastodons followed by Monahan with three.
With the tournament now over the Panthers look ahead to the North Florida Tournament this coming weekend. EIU opens tournament play against South Dakota State and North Florida Friday (Feb. 17).
SIUE 11, SAM HOUSTON STATE 5
MONROE, La. - SIUE closed out the Mardi Gras Classic with an eight-run seventh inning Sunday, collecting an 11-5 victory over Sam Houston State.
The Cougars finished the tournament 5-0 and outscored its opposition 31-10 for the weekend.
The Cougars opened the scoring in the first inning when Allison Smiley was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.
The Bearkats, 2-3, peppered the Cougars with two runs in the second, a single tally in the fourth and a two-run homer by Megan Crosby in the sixth.
SIUE stranded nine runners and didn't feel like Sunday's game was going their way mentally.
Zoe Schafer started the seventh-inning rally with a single to center field followed by a single from Reagan Curtis and a game-tying, two-run double by Allison Smiley.
Sam Houston State sent five pitchers to the circle in the game, including four in the seventh alone.
The Cougars kept finding way to extend the game, including a two-run double by Haley Chambers-Book on her second plate appearance of the inning. Chambers-Book, who entered the game on defense as the pitcher in the sixth inning, was the winning hurler and extended her record to 3-0.
SIUE sent 13 batters to the plate in the seventh inning.
After battling through 10 innings the night before in a win over host Louisiana-Monroe, a come-from-behind victory helped the Cougars leave on a high note.
SIUE next heads to Auburn, Alabama, for the Auburn Tournament. The Cougars first play a single game at Auburn Thursday at 6 p.m. The tournament (Feb. 17-19) includes one game with Auburn, one game with Evansville and two games against Mercer.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 10, HOUSTON BAPTIST 0
MOBILE, Ala. - The Jacksonville State softball team capped the Sand Dollar Classic in style on Sunday with a 10-2 mercy-rule win over Houston Baptist.
The Gamecocks (4-1) put the finishing touches on an impressive opening weekend by rolling to their second mercy-rule win of the weekend. They amassed 13 hits against the Huskies and were led by junior Emily Woodruff's 3-for-3 day that included a grand slam.
The win ended an opening week that saw JSU outscore its opponents 36-6, post a .355 team average and hold opposing batters to a .139 average. Senior Jamie McGuire, who was 2-for-3 on Sunday, finished the weekend with a .615 average (8-for-13) with two doubles, a homer and five RBI.
On Sunday, JSU got on the board first on a first-inning RBI single by senior Stephanie Lewis. The Huskies got a run in the third that tied the game, but the Gamecocks rolled from that point.
JSU rallied for six runs in the home half of the third, a frame that started with sophomore Hayley Sims' two-run double and ended after Woodruff's grand slam. The Albertville native connected on the first pitch of her at bat, pulling Emily Mueller's pitch over the wall in left.
After HBU got one back in the fourth to make it a 7-2 JSU lead, the Gamecocks plated two in the fifth on Caitlyn Sapp's two-run double. Leila Chambers finished the scoring with a walk-off triple in the sixth that scored McGuire and put the deciding 10-2 score on the board.
In the circle, freshman Alexus Jimmerson (1-0) grabbed the win in her first career start. The Jackson, Tenn., native allowed two runs, one earned, on four hits in four innings of work. Sophomore Kirsten Titus held HBU to just one hit in two scoreless frames of relief work.
Mueller (1-1) suffered the loss for the Huskies after allowing three runs on six hits in 2.2 innings.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 13, JACKSON STATE 2
JACKSON, Miss. - Southeast Missouri (3-0) won the Jackson State Tournament with a 13-2 victory over the host Tigers Sunday.
SEMO is off to its first 3-0 start since 2008.
The Redhawks made light work of fellow Ohio Valley Conference foe Tennessee State, Jarvis Christian College and Jackson State. SEMO won all three games in five innings to lock down its season-opening tournament title.
SEMO once again scored early and often as JSU was never a threat to the Redhawks.
After putting up one run in the first and second innings, the Redhawks blew the game open with an eight-run third.
Rachel Anderson led off with a double to left and went to third on a wild pitch. Anderson scored on a sacrifice fly by Ashley Ellis. Darby Pruett singled home Claire Wernig on the next play. Parker Bandy tripled home Pruett. Bandy then touched home on a single by Abby Tillotson. A run-scoring double by Mykaela Arellanes, two-RBI single by Anderson and base hit by Wernig pushed SEMO's lead to 10-0.
A pair of errors came back to hurt JSU in the top of the fifth when Ellis blasted a three-run homer with two outs to polish off the 13-2 win.
Alexis Estes (1-0) picked up the win after giving up one hit and striking out three in two innings. Madeline Krumrey, Haley Thogmartin and Addison Barnouski each pitched one inning out of the bullpen.
Sybil Lozano suffered the loss giving up 10 runs, 10 hits and three walks in just three innings.
Ellis went 2-for-3 with a run scored and five RBIs, while Anderson and Bandy also had two hits apiece.
The Redhawks outscored their opponents by a combined 39-5 for the weekend.
SEMO returns to action at the Southeastern Louisiana Tournament Feb. 17-19.
AUTIN PEAY 5, SAINT LOUIS 4; SAINT LOUIS 14, AUSTIN PEAY 5
KENNESAW, Ga. - Danielle Liermann’s three-run homer in the bottom of the fifth inning rallied Austin Peay State University softball team past Saint Louis, 5-4, Sunday morning in the final day of the Phyllis Rafter Memorial Tournament at Bailey Park, before the Billikens took Game 2, 14-5.
The Game 1 win was also the third recorded by Austin Peay to begin the season, tying the 1995 team’s school record start.
Austin Peay (3-1) led by one run, 2-1, heading into the top of the fourth inning in the opener, but saw the Billikens take their first lead of the day, 4-2, with three runs in the top of the fifth inning on three hits.
But Austin Peay would take advantage of a Saint Louis (3-2) mistake to start their rally, as the Govs Rikki Arkansas reaching base on a wild pitch on a missed third strike to start the inning.
Kacy Acree would follow with a walk, bring up Liermann as the protentional go-head run.
She didn’t disappoint, blasting the first pitch she saw deep over the fence in left-center field to retake the lead for the Govs, 5-4.
Austin Peay starter Autumn Hanners (2-0) would take it from there, holding the Billikens scoreless over their final two at bats to seal away the victory – scattering eight hits overall, while strikeout six and walking two.
The Govs had taken their first lead, 2-0, in the bottom of the second inning, with Victoria Eccleston driving in Carly Mattson with a single and Arkansas forcing in Christiana Gable with a bases-loaded walk.
Saint Louis scored a single run in the third to cut the APSU lead to 2-1.
Unfortunately, the Govs weren’t able to make it four wins in a row, with the Billikens exploding for 14 runs over the first three innings of Game 2 to take a commanding lead.
But the Govs didn’t go quietly, scoring five runs in their final two at bats, with Mattson and Emily Moore recorded RBI doubles in the fourth inning, while in the fifth, Liermann picked up a RBI double and Mattson a two-run homer for the 14-5 final.
UT MARTIN 8, MISSISSIPPI VALLEY STATE 0
HAMMOND, La. - University of Tennessee at Martin softball team picked up a clean sweep of the Southeastern Louisiana Lion Classic behind a dominating performance by senior pitcher Alyssa Vanlandingham, tossing the seventh no-hitter in program history en route to an 8-0 victory in six innings over Mississippi Valley State.
The Skyhawks (4-0) concluded a perfect appearance in the Lion Classic with the team’s best total performance of the young season. Vanlandingham stole the show by keeping the Devillettes off balance throughout the contest. The lefty would toss the first no-hitter for the Skyhawks since 2010 by striking out five and issuing two walks in six innings of work.
On the offensive side the Skyhawks notched the team’s second mercy rule of the tournament behind a power display by sophomore Gracyn McBride. McBride led all players with a pair of base hits, including a two-run home run in the fifth inning. Aeron Smith, Kaitlyn Martin and Allison Evans also tallied RBIs in the contest.
The game would stay scoreless through the first three innings before UT Martin broke onto the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth. Three consecutive singles would lead to the game’s first run as McBride laced a single up the middle to put the Skyhawks on top. The squad added to the margin with another single up the middle, this time by Smith to take a 2-0 advantage before ultimately adding one more run in the frame off an error.
UT Martin looked for some extra breathing room in the fifth inning. A leadoff single by Renate Meckl would start the scoring inning on the right foot. After the senior swiped second between a pair of outs, McBride came through in the clutch to bring the runner in from scoring position with a two-run blast to left center.
With a spectacular pitching performance in the book, the Skyhawks looked to officially put the game away in the bottom of the sixth. Savannah Dodson would draw a leadoff walk before moving al the way to third base after swiping second and advancing on a wild pitch. The speedster would later come around to score on a wild pitch. As a whole, the Skyhawks would draw three consecutive walks before a single by Martin through the left side scored the inning’s second run. A simple groundout would by Evans would tally the game’s ultimate deciding run to enact the mercy rule, scoring Gabby Zizzi from third on the play.
UT Martin will return to action next week at the Alabama State Tournament in Montgomery, Ala. beginning on Friday, Feb. 17-18.
KENNESAW STATE 9, MOREHEAD STATE 0
KENNESAW, Ga. - After downing Kennesaw State 6-0 yesterday, Morehead State softball (2-2) fell to the Owls 9-0 in five innings on Sunday afternoon.
With the loss, the Eagles wrap up the weekend with a 2-2 record.
The Owls jumped out early with four runs in the first inning and then tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the second.
Morehead State threatened in the fourth after senior Kayla McGuffey and junior Robyn Leighton singled, but sophomore Ellen Barrett struck out with runners on first and third to end the inning.
Sophomore Allison Rager picked up the loss for the Eagles, allowing 11 hits and eight runs, six of which were earned, in three innings of work. She struck out one.
The Eagles finished with four hits, all of which were singles.
Next weekend, Morehead State travels to Hammonds, La. to play five games in the Lion Classic. They will face Buffalo, Middle Tennessee, Alcorn State, UT Arlington, and host Southeastern Louisiana.
MURRAY STATE 10, KENT STATE 0
KENNESAW, Ga. - The Murray State softball team avenged a Saturday loss to Kent State, by blanking the Golden Flashes, 10-0, in five innings Sunday in the final game of the 2017 Mercer Invitational at Sikes Field in Macon, Georgia.
Senior Taylor Odom got the Racers on the board early with an RBI-single in the first and an RBI-double in the third to give Murray State a 2-0 advantage.
In the fourth, junior Erika Downey blasted a two-run double, that was followed by a two-run home run from sophomore Brenna Finck in the very next at bat. The home run was the first of Finck’s career and it extended MSU’s lead to 6-0.
Later in the inning, senior Jocelynn Rodgers made it 8-0 with a two-RBI single, before Maggie Glass capped the scoring in the following at bat with a two-run home run of her own. Up 10-0 in the top of the fifth, senior Mason Robinson retired the Golden Flashes in order in the top of the inning to end the game via the eight-run rule.
Robinson allowed five hits over five innings with two strikeouts and no walks to move to 3-0 on the year. Finck, Odom and freshman Kaylee Ranburger led the Racers in the contest with two hits each. Finck had two runs and two RBIs, while Ranburger had two runs and Odom had two RBIs.
The win gives Murray State a 4-1 start to the season, tying the best five-game start in program history. The Racers will return to action next weekend at the 2017 Mardi Gras Invitational in Mobile, Alabama. While in Mobile, the Racers will take on Butler, Jackson State, McNeese State and host South Alabama.
TENNESSEE STATE 16, JACKSON STATE 11
JACKSON, Miss. - Tennessee State early and often to claim its second consecutive win over Jackson State. The Tigers closed out the JSU Tournament with a 17-11 victory over the host Tigers and finished 3-1 on the weekend.
Danica Gleason registered her second four-hit game of the season, finishing 4-for-5, giving her 10 hits in 14 at bats (.714) over the first three days of the season. Courtney Gearlds and Abi Stephens joined in the Tigers hitting attack with two hits apiece.
Despite being outhit by Jackson State, 16-10, the Tigers continued to put pressure on their opponents with nine walks and taking advantage of nine JSU errors. TSU also put pressure on the Jackson State defense with eight stolen bases, led by freshman Selena Crafton with three. Gearlds added two swipes, while Gleason, Sarah Snell and Stephens each snagged one.
The Tigers opened the scoring with a seven run first inning. Crafton stole her first base of the day after a walk and scored on a Gearlds single to left center. Two batters later, Gearlds and Snell would score on the first hit of the day off Gleason’s bat to make the score 3-0.
The big blow came from Megan Huppee as she ripped a ball down the third base line for her first double of the season. The drive scored Maggie Syversen and Erica O’Kane and upped the TSU advantage to 6-0. Huppee would close out the scoring in the opening frame as she came home on a squeeze bunt by Crafton.
The Tigers tacked on two more runs in the second as the JSU defense misplayed a Gleason single, which allowed the senior and Snell to score and increasing the lead to 9-0.
Jackson State scratched a run in the second and four in the third to cut the lead to 9-5. Amanda Cabrera entered with no outs for the Tigers in place of starter Erica O’Kane and was able to escape the jam.
The Big Blue responded with a five spot in the fourth inning. Gearlds led off the inning with a single and a steal and scored on a ground out by Snell. After Gleason’s third single, the Tigers took control once again with the aid of two JSU errors, a pair of walks and three wild pitches. The 14-5 score did not last long as JSU answered with five runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning off reliever Tori Hart.
The freshman pitcher would settle in and surrender just one run over the next three innings as she earned the win and improve to 2-0.
The Tiger offense would add some insurance in the fifth off an RBI single by pinch hitter Kim Trice and an RBI double by Stephens.
Stephens would drive in the final run of the game in the seventh with a single up the middle, plating Gleason.
TSU returns home to host Alabama A&M and Iowa State for the Tiger Invitational. The three day tournament will begin on Friday, Feb. 17 with the Tigers and the Cyclones at 10:30 a.m.