SATURDAY'S SCORES
Troy 4,
Eastern Illinois 3
@Auburn 6,
Eastern Illinois 0
Drake 7,
Southeast Missouri 5
Southeast Missouri 5, IUPUI 3
@Georgia 8,
Belmont 1
Belmont 5, Bryant 1
Austin Peay 2, @McNeese State 1
Austin Peay 4, @McNeese State 3
@Arkansas 15,
SIUE 3
SIUE 17, . IUPUI 5
TROY 4, EASTERN ILLINOIS 3; AUBURN 6, EASTERN ILLINOIS 0
AUBURN, Ala. - Eastern Illinois softball falls to 3-10 on the season as they lost two more games today at the Tiger Invitation hosted by Auburn University. EIU faced Troy for a rematch this morning losing a close game 4-3 to the Trojans. EIU played No. 22 Auburn for the second game of today's action and fell 6-0.
The Panthers will close the Tiger Invitational tomorrow morning with a 9 am game vs. North Dakota State.
Game 1
Troy beat EIU 4-3 in the morning game of today's action. The Panthers recorded five hits in the game including doubles from Megan Burton, Breya Cooper, and Hannah Cravens.
The Trojans put up the first two runs of the game scoring in in second and third innings. Morgan LaMore score EIU's first run of the game in the fifth inning on a passed ball. Troy would add another two runs in the fifth inning on a two-run single from Katie Lively to lead EIU 4-1.
Cooper would hit a sac fly in the sixth to score Tayler Wullenweber followed by a single from Mia Davis to score Burton, but EIU fell short losing 4-3.
Jade Montgomery started on the mound for the Panthers. She retired three batters and falls to 0-5 on the season.
Game 2
EIU played No. 22 Auburn in the finale of Saturday's play. The Tigers won 6-0 and gave up five hits to the Panthers. Wullenweber, Burton, Cooper, Davis, and Kendyl McKeough each went 1-for-3 at the plate.
Most of the Tigers runs came in the second inning as they took a 5-0 lead/ Taylon Snow hit a two-run single to spark the Tiger offense. Kendall Veach hit another two run single to close the inning for Auburn. They added another run in the third to secure a 6-0 win.
Three pitchers saw time on the field for the Panthers. McKenna Coffman collected the loss falling to 0-2 on the mound.
DRAKE 7, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 5, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 5, IUPUI 3
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Mark Redburn picked up his 100thcareer win as Southeast Missouri's head coach when the Redhawks closed out the Razorback Invitational with a split Saturday. SEMO (9-6) fell to Drake, 7-5, and bounced back to beat IUPUI, 5-3.
Redburn's milestone victory came in a game that featured a combined six errors and six unearned runs between SEMO and IUPUI.
The Redhawks struck early in the bottom of the first inning on a solo home run by Mykaela Arellanes, SEMO's second hitter of the game.
After IUPUI pulled ahead by a run in the top of the second, SEMO tied quickly tied things up on a RBI-double by Sarah Messex. Messex's hit scored Madison Harris who previously reached on an error.
The Jaguars managed to get ahead again on a run-scoring infield single by Mandy Dallas in the top of the fifth.
IUPUI then fell apart defensively in the bottom half of that inning and SEMO pulled away for good.
The Redhawks took advantage of two Jaguar errors to score three unearned runs during their at-bat in the fifth. Messex, Brooke Rheinecker and Claudia Gallo all scored to increase SEMO's lead to 5-3.
Haley Thogmartin (5-3) tossed her third complete game of the season. Thogmartin scattered six hits and allowed three runs (one earned), while striking out three in seven innings. The outing was Thogmartin's longest this year.
Lexi Lucas suffered the loss for IUPUI. Lucas worked six innings, allowing five runs (four unearned) on three hits. She also struck out two and walked one.
SEMO finished with three hits against the Jaguars with one each from Addison Barnouski, Arellanes and Messex.
Down, 3-0, after one inning versus Drake, SEMO erupted for five runs to take the lead in the top of the second.
Barnouski and Ashley Ellis hit back-to-back home runs to start the inning. Ellis' round-tripper was her team-high fifth of the season. Rachael Donald walked after that and gave way to pinch-runner Mackenzie Long.
On the next play, Messex doubled giving the Redhawks runners at second and third. With one out, Kaylee Anderson doubled home Messex and Long, and Arellanes followed with a RBI-single to put SEMO ahead, 5-3.
Drake pulled to within a run in the bottom of the second and regained the lead on a pair of tallies in the fourth.
The Bulldogs plated both runs on walks with two outs and the bases loaded. Nicole Newman and Taryn Pena each drew bases on balls with Pena's pushing across Mandi Roemmich for the go-ahead run.
Roemmich had a two-out RBI-hit to score Sarah Maddox for the game's final run in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Newman entered the game at pitcher with two outs and SEMO runners at second and third in the top of the sixth. She forced K. Anderson to pop up to third and retired the Redhawks in order in the seventh to claim her second save.
Nicole Timmons (5-2) was credited with the win. Timmons struck out six, walked one and allowed five runs on seven hits in 5.2 innings.
Freshman Marisa Davis (0-1) was charged with the loss. Davis, one of three relievers pitch for SEMO, struck out three and gave up two runs on three hits.
Four of the Redhawks seven hits went for extra bases. All of those extra base hits came in the second inning. Ellis paved the way going 2-for-3 with a run scored, double, home run and one RBI.
Roemmich went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and one RBI. She had half of the Bulldogs hits.
SEMO continues tournament play when it heads to the UCA Classic in Conway, Arkansas Mar. 1-3.
GEORGIA 8, BELMONT 1; BELMONT 5, BRYANT 1
ATHENS, Ga. - Another rain soaked day at the Georgia Classic saw Belmont Softball (6-3) earn a split on Saturday. The Bruins fell to No. 8 Georgia (12-1) before rallying to knock off Bryant (0-9) for a second time this weekend, 5-1.
UGA jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning and never looked back. The Dawgs seemed to be inching closer and closer to a no hitter after posting three additional runs over the course of the third and fourth innings. Finally, the Bruins were able to dig deep and begin to threaten their first ranked opponent of the season. Senior Sami Long (Springfield, Ill.) reached first base on four balls and classmate Baylee Cook (Lewisburg, Tenn.) singled through the left side to break the no hitter. A passed ball moved the pair into scoring position before junior Bailey Sims (Flowery Branch, Ga.) smacked a single to right. Belmont attempted to get another runner over the plate but she was thrown out at home, holding Belmont to a one run half inning. Unfortunately, that would be as close as BU would come as Georgia recorded two more runs in their half of the same frame to secure the 8-1 win.
Belmont was able to rebound and fast in the nightcap against Bryant, posting a pair of runs in the top of the first inning, thanks to Hayley Baker (Rockwall, Texas), who knocked a long single to score Cook and sophomore Alicia Veltri (Clarksville, Tenn.), who then used a sacrifice fly to plate Baker. The Bulldogs dashed BU's shot at a no-hitter in the bottom of the third inning when it logged what would become its lone run of the contest. With Bryant threatening, the Bruins posted insurance runs in the tops of the fifth and sixth innings to take a 5-1 lead. In the fifth, Sims singled and Baker followed with a double to put them in scoring position. A Bryant fielding error placed senior Chelsea Thomas (Hot Springs, Ark.) on first, loading the bases.
For the day, Sims led the Bruins at plate, batting .429 after going 3-for-7 with two runs and an RBI. Junior Brooklin Lee (Burns, Tenn.) went the distance inside the circle against Georgia, recording three strikeouts. Veltri posted a career-high 13 strikeouts versus Bryant to come away with her third win of the season.
Belmont returns to action on Sunday for the final day of the 16th annual Georgia Classic. The Bruins take on No. 8 Georgia once more, beginning at 10:30 am ET. Live stats will be available and the game can be seen live on SECNetwork+.
AUSTIN PEAY 2, MCNEESE STATE 1; AUSTIN PEAY 4, MCNEESE STATE 3
LAKE CHARLES, La. -
Austin Peay’s Morgan Rackel pitched a program best 16-inning complete game, Saturday at Joe Miller Field, to highlight a doubleheader sweep of McNeese, as the Governors defeated the Cowgirls, 2-1 and 4-3 to take all three games of the weekend series.
Rackel (5-3) would need 217 pitches in the Game 1 victory, giving up a second-inning run to McNeese (6-9) then throwing 14 shutout innings -- finishing the game with a career-high 16 strikeouts.
Austin Peay (8-5) would tie the game, 1-1, on Brooke Pfefferle’s first home run of the season in the sixth inning, while the game-winning run in the top of the 16th inning came on a Kacy Acree single.
Game 2 would see the Govs get out to a 2-0 lead on a Carly Mattson two-run homer in the top of the first, with McNeese taking its only lead of the game with a run in the fourth and two more in the fifth to go up, 3-2.
But Austin Peay would take advantage of a McNeese error in the top of the sixth to score two runs to retake the lead 4-3.
Kelsey Gross would come in to throw 1.2 innings of shutout relief to pick up her second save of the year, while Kelly Mardones (2-1) picked up the win.
ARKANSAS 15, SIUE 3; SIUE 17, IUPUI 5
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - SIUE softball pounded out 17 runs on 14 hits late Saturday night and defeated IUPUI 17-5 in five innings at the Razorback Invitational.
SIUE is now 5-4 with one game left in the tournament, a 10 a.m. contest Sunday against Drake. The Cougars also batted No. 12-ranked Arkansas Saturday, dropping a 15-3 contest in five innings to the Razorbacks.
Reagan Curtis led the Cougars with five runs batted in against IUPUI and joined Alyssa Heren for the team lead in the game with three hits.
Curtis took over the team's lead in RBIs with seven.
The Cougars gained offense up and down the lineup against IUPUI in supporting starting pitcher Emily Ingles, who improved to 3-1.
Three other players joined Curtis with multiple RBIs. Heren had three, including a two-run single in the fifth. Zoe Schafer and Bailley Concatto added two each.
Schafer provided all three of SIUE's RBIs in game one Saturday against 12th-ranked Arkansas. She hit a two-run homer with Heren on board in the first inning and added an RBI single in the third that brought home pinch runner Janie Smith.