SUNDAY'S SCORES
Jacksonville State 6, @Eastern Kentucky 0
Jacksonville State 5, @Eastern Kentucky 0
UT Martin 8, @Tennessee State 0 (5)
Southeast Missouri 5, @Belmont 1 (6)
Tennessee Tech 8, @Morehead State 6
@Morehead State 5, Tennessee Tech 3
JACKSONVILLE STATE 6, EASTERN KENTUCKY 0; JACKSONVILLE STATE 5, EASTERN KENTUCKY 0
RICHMOND, Ky. - The Jacksonville State softball team used two dominant pitching performances on Sunday to clinch the 2017 Ohio Valley Conference regular season championship.
Whitney Gillespie and Taylor West both tossed shutouts at Eastern Kentucky to seal The Gamecocks (36-10, 15-1 OVC) second-straight regular season title and their third in four years. JSU's 6-0 win in game one and 5-0 victory in game two over the Colonels (22-28, 9-9 OVC) secured the sixth regular season OVC crown since joining the league in 2004.
In its 14 seasons in the OVC, JSU has now won either the regular season or tournament championship in nine of those. They become the first back-to-back regular season champs since the 2008 and 2009 Gamecocks and will once again be the No. 1 seed in the OVC Tournament, which will be held at Choccolocco Park in Oxford from May 10-13.
The day started with Gillespie setting the tone by tossing a one-hit shutout in her win. The Pelham native struck out four and allowed just one single in the game to improve to 17-4 on the season and drop her earned run average to 1.11. She entered the day ranked 15th in the nation in ERA.
It was Gillespie's eighth shutout of the season and the 17th in her career, while her 44th career win ties her with Carly Kellam (2005-06) for the sixth-most in JSU history. She and West combined to hold the Colonels to a .106 average on the day, one that saw them muster just five singles in 47 at bats.
West allowed just four hits in her gem, also all singles. She improved to 15-4 on the season and 50-16 in her career, making her just the fourth player in school history to reach the 50-win mark. She and Gillespie have now combined for an OVC-best 16 shutouts this season.
While West and Gillespie were dealing in the circle for JSU, the Gamecock bats were combining for 16 hits and 11 runs against the Colonels. Jamie McGuire, Emily Woodruff and Anna Chisolm each had three hits, while McGuire, Gillespie and Leila Chambers all homered during the day.
In the first game, JSU got on the board early, thanks to two runs that scored on a Woodruff single to right center. That would be all the support Gillespie would need, but she would get more in the sixth, the first of which came from her bat.
She homered to straightaway center to start the four-run inning, one that also included an RBI single to left center by Chisolm and a two-run double by Taylor Sloan.
Gillespie (17-4) no-hit the Colonels for four innings before a leadoff single in the fifth by Amber Murray. Alex Sallberg (8-14) suffered the loss in the EKU circle, allowing two runs on four hits and a walk in 2 1/3 innings of work.
In the nightcap, West and Mollie Paulick took a scoreless battle into the fourth, when the Gamecocks dented the scoreboard. It was Chambers' big blast, a three-run homer to right center that gave West a 3-0 lead to work with and continued the Molena, Ga., native's onslaught of OVC pitching.
Chambers went 2-for-5 on the day, improving her average in OVC play this season to a team-best .477 (21-for-44). It was her team-best fifth homer in league play and also ran her RB total to a team-high 20 in league games.
A two-run fifth started with a Sloan RBI grounder and finished with McGuire's team-high ninth homer of the season, a solo shot to left center.
West struck out three and didn't issue a walk in her win, while Paulick (11-10) surrendered five runs on seven hits in her seven innings of work. She struck out two and hit a batter.
UT MARTIN 8, TENNESSEE STATE 0
NASHVILLE, Tenn- The University of Tennessee at Martin softball team notched its seventh shutout victory of the season, earning an 8-0 victory in five innings over Ohio Valley Conference foe Tennessee State to sweep the squad’s road trip through Music City following a pair of victories against Belmont yesterday.
The Skyhawks (35-15, 12-4 OVC) continued their hot play as of late, winning eight of their last nine conference games to steadily climb higher up league standings. Today’s game would mark the eighth shortened due to a mercy rule while improving to 24-3 when scoring first.
As a team the Skyhawks would tally 10 hits on the day with the trio of Carly Gonzales, Jodie Duncan and Alli Fulcher each notching multi-hit afternoons. Five different players tallied RBIs on the day while Gracyn McBride and Savannah Dodson both notched two each.
In the pitching circle, senior Brooke Kennedy (19-5) picked up her 47th career victory to move into sole possession of third place on the program’s all-time wins leaderboard. Kennedy remained perfect in OVC play, pushing her record to 9-0 while posting a 1.98 ERA. Kennedy notched her third shutout of the season, striking out five while allowing just one walk.
UT Martin would jump out to an early lead in the first inning. Gonzales would push her streak of games reaching base to 26 with a leadoff double to left center before moving to third as Lauren Myers singled to center and advanced into scoring position on the throw. With a pair of runners on, McBride would tally a two-run double into right center to put the Skyhawks on the board. Another run would come home as Duncan hit an opposite field double to plate the team’s third run while Fulcher later came home on an error by the pitcher.
With a four run lead in the books, the Skyhawks looked for more in the top of the third. A leadoff walk by Rachel Williams would be followed by consecutive singles by Duncan and Fulcher to score a run. Another hit by Alicia Hansen would keep the runners moving before two runs scored on a two-run single to right Dodson to make it a seven-run advantage. Dodson would later steal second and third before Gonzales punctuated the inning with a single up the middle to make it an 8-0 contest.
With UT Martin holding an eight-run lead, the Skyhawks were enacted the mercy rule. As heavy amounts of rain approached the city, the Skyhawks would tally six consecutive bunts to complete the game and the 8-0 victory.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 5, BELMONT 1
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Darby Pruett had a two-run home run and Madeline Krumrey pitched another strong complete game to lead Southeast Missouri (22-25, 7-12) to a 5-1 win over Belmont (30-20, 6-12) Sunday.
Game one of the doubleheader was shortened to six innings due to rain and lightning. Game two was then postponed until 4 p.m., CT, Monday.
Pruett smashed her home run to help lift SEMO to an early 3-0 lead in the top of the second inning. Her fourth home run of the season sailed over the left field wall with one out. Sarah Messex's two-out single scored Claudia Gallo for the other run.
The Redhawks added to their lead in the fourth inning when Pruett led off with a single, went to third on a double by Ashley Ellis and touched home after Gallo flied out to left in foul territory. A two-out sacrifice fly by Messex allowed pinch-runner Nicole Deering to score putting SEMO ahead, 5-0.
Belmont scored its only run with the help of two errors in the bottom of the fifth.
Madeline Krumrey (13-8) pitched another strong game for the Redhawks. Krumrey threw five scoreless innings and did not allow an earned run. She also struck out seven and walked one. Krumrey, who tossed her 10th complete game, tied her own career-high for wins in a season.
Pruett went 2-for-3 with a homer, two runs scored and two RBIs to lead SEMO. Gallo also finished with two hits, a run scored and one RBI. In addition, Rachel Anderson had a hit and, as a result, extended her hitting streak to seven games.
TENNESSEE TECH 8, MOREHEAD STAET 6, MOREHEAD STATE 5, TENNESSEE TECH 3
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Morehead State softball rallied for five runs in the bottom of the sixth as they downed Tennessee Tech, 5-3, in game two on Senior Day.
The Eagles' rally fell short in game one as they lost, 8-6,
With the split, Morehead State moves to 26-10 overall and 6-10 in Ohio Valley Conference play.
Trailing 3-0 in the sixth in game two, the Eagles started the inning with three straight singles and then scored their first run on a bases loaded walk by sophomore Allison Rager. Two batters late, sophomore Ellen Barrett delivered a two-run double, scoring senior Kayla McGuffey and sophomore Aubrey Bennett. Junior Taylor Wheeler then delivered a two-out, two-run single, scoring Rager and Barrett, giving the Eagles a 5-3 lead.
Junior Chelsea McManaway then worked around an error to retire Tennessee Tech and close out the game in the seventh.
McManaway (16-8, 1.73) picked up the win, allowing eight hits and three earned runs in seven innings of work. She struck out five and walked two.
Barrett went 2-for-3 with a double, two runs batted in, and a run scored.
Tennessee Tech utilized two three-run home runs in the top of the third to jump out to a 7-0 lead in game one.
Junior Kylie Holton then led off the bottom of the third with a solo home run to get the Eagles on the board.
Triples by Holton and McGuffey then propelled a three-run fifth inning for Morehead State to trim the lead to 7-4.
After TTU tacked on an unearned run in the sixth, senior Karly Thompson delivered her first home of the year to center field to trim the lead back to three at 8-5.
Rager's triple then scored McGuffey in the seventh, but the Eagles stranded the bases loaded and fell, 8-6.
Senior Megan Tymorek (5-8, 3.24) picked up the loss, giving up seven hits and seven runs, just three of which were earned, in three innings of work. She struck out one and walked two.
The Eagles finished the game with four errors leading to five unearned runs.
McGuffey, Bennett, Rager, and Holton all finished with two-hit games.