SATURDAY'S SCORES
Eastern Illinois 9, @Morehead State 1 (6)
Eastern Illinois 12, @Morehead State 6
Jacksonville State 8, @Tennessee State 0 (5)
Jacksonville State 4, @Tennessee State 2
EASTERN ILLINOIS 9, MORHEAED STATE 1; EASTERN ILLINOIS 12, MOREHEAD STATE 6
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Eastern Illinois softball sweeps Morehead State Saturday afternoon for a pair of OVC wins. The Panthers took game one 9-1 in six innings and game two 12-6. Haley Mitchell hit a grand slam to center in game two to put EIU ahead of MSU.
The Panthers improve to 12-33 overall and 3-11 in the OVC. Morehead drops to 2-31 overall and 0-12 in the conference.
Game 1
The Panthers tallied 14 hits in their 9-1 six inning win over the Eagles Saturday afternoon. Four player finished with multiple hits led by Mia Davis who went 4-for-4 with two RBI.
Davis tallied the first hit of the day with a double to right center in the top of the first inning advancing Megan Burton who reached on a walk to third base. Both runners would score over the next two at bats. Morgan LaMore scored the final run of the inning giving the Panthers a 3-0 lead.
MSU scored their only run on a homer from Coleman in the bottom of the first inning. EIU added another three runs in the second with a lead-off solo home run to right center from Burton.
In the sixth inning, the Panthers scored three more runs to give EIU a 9-1 win. LaMore doubled to right center to score Davis who opened the inning with a single. Sydney Cammon and LaMore scored the final two runs of game.
Coffman pitched all six innings tying her career-high six strikeouts. She improves to 3-9 on the year. Coffman also finished with two hits and two RBI on the game. Tayler Wullenweber added two hits and three RBI.
Game 2
EIU scored nine straight runs over the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings leading to a dominating 12-6 win over MSU. Mitchell hit back-to-back homers for the Panthers finishing with a career-high six RBI.
The Eagles scored three runs in the bottom of the second jumping out to their first lead of the game. The Panthers tied the game 3-3 in the top of the third. Mitchell hit a two-run homer to left center to score her and Davis. In the very next at bat, Kendyl McKeough hit a solo homer to tie the game.
MSU scored another two runs in the third to take their final lead of the game. Taylor Jones opened the fourth with a single and advanced to third on a double from Burton. Davis filled the bases on a walk as Mitchell stepped up to the plate again. Mitchell hit a grand slam to clear the bases and give EIU a permanent lead over MSU.
The Panthers added another three runs in the fifth and one in the sixth, while the Eagles scored one in the seventh. EIU finished with 15 hits led by McKeough who recorded three hits. Four other players tallied two hits in the game.
Jade Montgomery made the start on the mound for the Panthers, while Cravens came in to take over duties in the second. Cammon pitched majority of the game with 4.2 innings pitch and she takes the win improving to 2-1 on the mound.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 8, TENNESSEE STATE 0; JACKSONVILLE STATE 4, TENNESSEE STATE 2
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Jacksonville State softball team capped a week that saw them play six games in the state of Tennessee on Saturday with a doubleheader sweep of Tennessee State.
The Gamecocks (28-12, 12-4 Ohio Valley Conference) rolled to an 8-0 mercy-rule win in the opener before hanging on for a 4-0 win in the nightcap against the homestanding Tigers (10-24, 3-13 OVC).
In the circle, Faith Sims earned the complete-game win in the opener before closing the door and earning the save in the final game of the day. At the plate, five different JSU players drove in at least one run in the first game before freshman Anna Hood delivered the big blow in the finale with a pinch-hit, two-run homer in the seventh that proved to be the difference.
That blow came with JSU leading just 2-0 with two outs in the top of the seventh and just after a lengthy lightning delay had the teams wait around an hour to finish the game. She native of Locust Fork, Ala., fouled off five-straight Raven Loveless pitches before belting a 3-2 pitch over the center field wall to make it a 4-0 game.
TSU scored twice in the home half of the seventh and then brought the tying run to the plate before Sims was able to finish her two-inning save by inducing a ground out.
Sims, a native of Cordova, Ala., recorded five outs in her fourth save of the season, allowing two runs on two hits. She relieved starter Nicole Rodriguez (7-4), who held TSU scoreless on five hits in 5 and 1/3 innings. She struck out five in the winning effort.
Loveless (8-11) suffered the loss for TSU, allowing four runs on six hits in seven innings of work. She walked one and struck out four.
The first two runs she allowed came in the third, when freshman Karsen Mosley's two-run triple scored Sidney Wagnon and pinch runner Hannah Brown to break a scoreless tie.
In the opener, JSU scored early and often, scoring in every innings after a scoreless first. The first two runs came in the second on Wagnon's two-run single, and then a four-run third broke the game open. Amber Jones singled in the first in that inning, followed by an Anna Chisolm RBI and a two-run double from Hayley Sims that made it a 6-0 game.
Taylor Beshears doubled in a run in the fourth, and Chisolm scored on a passed ball in the fifth that put the mercy rule into effect.
Faith Sims (17-4) tossed a two-hit shutout in the five-inning game, striking out eight. She beat Jessina Espinoza (1-5), who allowed two runs on three hits in 2 and 1/3 innings.