WEDNESDAY'S SCORES
@Morehead State 1, East Tennessee State 0
East Tennessee State 6,
@Morehead State 2
Kentucky 8,
@UT Martin 2
@#20 Ole Miss 2,
Jacksonville State 1
@Austin Peay 11, Tennessee State 3 (5)
Tennessee State 3, @Austin Peay 2
MOREHEAD STATE 1, EAST TENNESSEE STATE 0; EAST TENNESSEE STATE 6, MOREHEAD STATE 2
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Junior Chelsea McManaway threw her fourth no-hitter of the year and struck out 13 as Morehead State softball downed East Tennessee State 1-0 in game one on Wednesday afternoon.
The Eagles fell 6-2 in game two.
With the split, Morehead State's record moves to 25-19 on the year, while ETSU moves to 22-21.
After not recording a strikeout in the first inning, McManaway (15-8, 1.67) proceeded to strike out 12 of the next 13 batters en route to striking out 13. The lone base runner was a walk to lead off the game.
With 13 strikeouts today, McManaway now holds the single-season strikeout record with 234. The previous record was 230, set by Alex Gjevre in 2010.
The Eagles lone run came in the fourth as sophomore Aubrey Bennett fought off several pitches and eventually reached on a single to left. Sophomore Allison Rager then doubled down the left field line to score Bennett.
Rager finished 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI. She has a team-high 37 runs batted in on the year.
In the second game, Morehead State tied the game at 2-2 in the third inning courtesy of back-to-back RBI singles from Rager and junior Robyn Leighton.
But, ETSU answered with three runs in the fourth and then added a run in the seventh as the Eagles fell, 6-2.
Senior Megan Tymorek (5-7, 3.12) picked up the loss, allowing six hits and four runs, just three of which were earned, while walking three.
Bennett went 3-for-4 with a run scored.
The Eagles return to action this weekend when they host Jacksonville State on Saturday at noon and Tennessee Tech on Sunday at noon for senior day.
KENTUCKY 8, UT MARTIN 2
MARTIN, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Martin softball team treated its program record 731 fans to a treat on Wednesday afternoon, battling No. 18 ranked Kentucky for much of the contest before a late scoring push by the visiting Wildcats ended the contest with a final score of 8-2.
The Skyhawks (32-15) closed out non-conference play with a record of 22-11 despite facing three nationally ranked opponent on the season. Despite facing a difficult opponent, the Skyhawks would play even with the Wildcats through five innings before six runs in the final two innings proved to put the game out of reach for the home squad.
UT Martin would tally six base hits on the day, led by the play of sophomore Lauren Myers who tallied her 10th multi-hit performance of the season with three hits on the day. Recently named TSWA Player of the Week Jodie Duncan continued her hot streak, tallying a pair of base hits while notching both of the team’s RBIs in the third inning. Meanwhile senior Carly Gonzales pushed her streak of reaching base to 23 games with a walk.
Two different Skyhawks saw time in the pitcher’s circle for the home squad with Brooke Kennedy (17-5) suffering defeat. Kennedy allowed six earned runs on nine hits in six innings of work. Sophomore Sara Hooten appeared in relief, pitching one inning.
Kentucky (32-13) pushed its winning streak to six games with the victory after knocking off Eastern Kentucky and UT Martin in consecutive days. Outside of the balanced effort throughout the lineup which led to eight runs, the play of Martin native Meagan Prince propelled the Wildcats to the victory. Prince pitched a complete game, striking out 14 while allowing two earned runs.
Behind the strong pitching performance, it would be the Wildcats who jumped into the scoring column first. A leadoff walk would prove costly as the runner was then moved into scoring position following a sacrifice bunt. A fielding error would put runners on first and third, where the team attempted a double steal. The Skyhawks would sniff out the stolen base attempt at second, but a run would score in the process to put Kentucky on top early.
Trailing by one in the bottom of the third, UT Martin would look to take its first lead of the contest. Gonzales would reach base after battling a full count for a walk before moving into scoring position on an infield single by Myers. The inning would continue as Rachel Williams drew a two-out walk to load the bases for fellow junior Duncan. Fresh off a grand slam in her last game, Duncan came through once again in the clutch, lacing a single up the middle to score both Gonzales and Myers, giving the Skyhawks a 2-1 lead.
Facing its first deficit of the contest, Kentucky quickly responded in the top of the fourth. The Wildcats would ultimately load the bases in the fourth following a pair of singles and a walk, setting up Erin Rethlake with a prime scoring opportunity. With two outs, Rethlake would tally a single just out of the reach of a diving Skyhawk to score one run before Duncan fired home to Aeron Smith who placed a tag on the potential go-ahead run and keep the game tied at 2-2.
The game would remain tied until the top of the sixth when Kentucky added two more runs to its scoring total. Another double steal attempt would result in the team’s first run of the inning crossing the plate. A deep home run off the bat of Rachael Metzger would result in another to give the Wildcats a 4-2 lead.
Kentucky would formally put the game out of reach in the bottom of the seventh, scoring four runs on four hits. An error would result in two runs scoring in the inning off the bat of Jenny Schaper while a pair of fielders choice plays plated the team’s other two runs to make the final score 8-2.
UT Martin will look to return to its winning ways with a pair of Ohio Valley Conference doubleheaders over the weekend. The Skyhawks will travel to Nashville take on Belmont on Saturday, April 29 before matching up against Tennessee State on Sunday, April 30.
AUSTIN PEAY 11, TENNESSEE STATE 3; TENNESSEE STATE 3, AUSTIN PEAY 2
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Austin Peay State University and Tennessee State University split a pair of Ohio Valley Conference softball games, Wednesday at Cheryl Holt Field, with the Governors taking Game 1 by a 11-3 final – in five innings – while the Tigers held on to come away with a 3-2 win in Game 2.
In the opener, Austin Peay (16-28, 4-11 OVC) scored a run in the first inning off a TSU error and a run in the second on a passed ball to go up 2-0.
Tennessee State (12-32, 2-14 OVC) would cut the APSU lead in half with a run in the third inning off an RBI single by Danica Gleason, then take a 3-2 lead in the top of the fourth inning on a two-run single by Reese Weber.
But the Govs would respond with five runs of their own in the bottom of the inning, with Christiana Gable having the big hit of the inning – a three-run double – while Kacy Acree forced in a run with a bases-loaded walk and Danielle Liermann the other with an RBI single.
Liermann’s single was also the 100th base hit of her career, making her only the second player in APSU history to record 100 base hits in her first two seasons.
That would be more than enough runs for Govs starter Kelsey Gross (9-8) as she picked-up the complete-game victory, giving up seven hits and three runs while striking out three.
Austin Peay would close out the game with four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, highlighted by a two-run double by Acree and a RBI double by Liermann.
In Game 2, Tennessee State broke on top with two runs in the first inning, with Gleason and Abi Stephens driving in runs with doubles.
The score would remain that way until the bottom of the fourth inning, when APSU got on the board with Carly Mattson’s team-leading 10th home run of the season.
The Tigers would add what would be an important insurance run in the sixth inning on a RBI from Erica O’Kane to extend their lead to 3-1.
Austin Peay would score a run in the bottom of the seventh, on an infield single by Rikki Arkansas, 3-2, but TSU’s Lauren Woodard (4-11) got the last out of the game on an infield pop up to seal away the win for the Tigers.
Woodard scattered eight hits in the win, while giving up two runs, striking out one and walking one.
Autumn Hanners (6-12) took the loss, giving up seven hits and three runs, while striking out two.
OLE MISS 2, JACKSONVILLE STATE 1
OXFORD, Miss. - The Jacksonville State softball team dropped a 2-1 decision on the road Wednesday night at No. 20 Ole Miss, snapping the nation's longest win streak which stood at 15 games entering the contest.
The Gamecocks (34-10, 13-1 Ohio Valley Conference) came up just shy of a season sweep against the Southeastern Conference Rebels, after a thrilling 5-4 walk-off victory last month for JSU at University Field. Ole Miss took its revenge on Wednesday with a walk-off of its own this time around, as Miranda Strothers' bases-loaded single in the seventh sent the winning run home.
Junior Whitney Gillespie (16-4) was tagged with the loss after 6.1 strong innings where she allowed just one extra base hit and struck out two. Behind Gillespie, JSU's defense committed no errors and stranded six Rebels on base.
Jax State got things going early drawing walks from Taylor Sloan and Jamie McGuire in the top half of the first to put runners on with two outs. Sloan raced home from second on Stephanie Lewis' ensuing double to put the Gamecocks on the board. However, the Rebels made a play on the back end to get McGuire before another run could cross the plate.
Gillespie shut down the Ole Miss offense through the opening two frames until a leadoff walk in the third made things interesting. The Rebels soon had bases loaded and no outs after another walk and single to center. Anna Chisolm recorded an unassisted out at second for the first putaway as Ole Miss tied the game with the runner from third. JSU escaped without further damage when Emily Woodruff zipped a line drive back to McGuire at home who tagged-out a potential go-ahead run at the plate to send the game to the fourth all knotted at one.
The two squads went quietly through the following two frames, before the Gamecocks put two runners on in the sixth before being denied their best chance the take the lead again. The Rebels shut JSU down again in the top of the seventh in a tied game with a trio of groundouts.
JSU returns to the field this Saturday with a doubleheader at Morehead State, followed by a Sunday twinbill at Eastern Kentucky for the league-leading Gamecocks.