TUESDAY'S SCORES
Ole Miss 11,
@Belmont 1
@Southern Illinois 4,
Murray State 0
@Tennessee State 10, Alabama A&M 2
@Tennessee State 9, Alabama 4
OLE MISS 11, BELMONT 1
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Belmont Softball fell behind early but rallied just a little too late to overcome visiting No. 17/18 Ole Miss on Tuesday evening. The Bruins (19-15) were held off by the Rebels (25-9), 11-1, at E.S. Rose Park.
For the day, senior Hayley Baker (Rockwall, Texas) went 2-for-3 at the plate with a run scored.
Inside the circle, sophomore Alicia Veltri (Clarksville, Tenn.) and junior Brooklin Lee (Burns, Tenn.) split time. The duo combined for nine strikeouts.
Belmont returns to action on Wednesday evening with a game on the road at Samford. First pitch is slated for 5 p.m.
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 4, MURRAY STATE 0
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Murray State softball traveled to Carbondale, Illinois for a midweek contest against the Salukis of Southern Illinois University. The Racers, who entered the game riding a three-game winning streak, would come up short in the non-conference competition, falling 4-0 at Charlotte West Stadium on Tuesday afternoon.
The Racers would have a promising start to the day after they opened the ballgame with a pair of singles to put a runner in scoring position with nobody out in the top of the first frame. The Salukis would avoid danger early on, however, thanks in part to a fantastic defensive effort to turn a double play during the following at-bat. A fly ball to right field off the bat of Lillie Goetz would be deep enough to move the runner from second to third, but a good throw after the initial out would catch the other Racer runner going from first to second to record the second out of the inning. Now with just a runner on third and two outs, the Racers were unable to push across a run in the first inning of action.
SIU would put up the first score of the game when Katelyn Massa sent a 1-0 delivery over the wall in left to give her side a 1-0 lead with nobody out in the home half of the second. The Salukis would build on the momentum in the very next batter, as Megan Brown got a good piece of a two-strike pitch as Southern Illinois would hit back-to-back home runs to open the scoring on the day.
The Salukis would continue to find their rhythm offensively through the rest of the frame, putting up all four of their runs in the second inning of the game.
At the plate, Murray State would go hitless after the second inning, due in large part to a dazzling pitching performance from SIU sophomore Holly Marousek. She would earn the complete game victory for the Salukis, surrendering just three hits in the ballgame.
Ellison Barrett would have a good showing in the circle for Murray State, tossing 4.1 innings in relief for the Racers without surrendering an earned run. She would record three strikeouts on the afternoon.
Brenna Finck, Jensen Striegel, and Lexi Jones would each collect hits in the ballgame, while Jones would be responsible for the lone Racer extra-base hit with her double in the second inning.
Murray State will return to action on Saturday as they host Tennessee Tech in an OVC doubleheader at Racer Field in Murray, Kentucky.
TENNESSEE STATE 10, ALABAMA A&M 2; TENNESSEE STATE 9, ALABAMA A&M 4
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Tennessee State scored early and closed out Alabama A&M with a big late inning charge to earn a sweep on Tuesday afternoon at Tiger Field. TSU needed just six innings to claim the opener, 10-2, before defeating the Bulldogs 9-4 in the night cap. With the wins, the Tigers improve to 8-18 on the season, doubling their win total from a year ago.
Raven Loveless allowed two runs, one earned, on six hits to pick up her sixth win of the season, while Jessina Espinoza secured her first career working out of the pen. Espinoza tossed 3.2 innings in game two before yielding to Kennedy McCurry, who entered in the sixth inning with the Tigers clinging to a one run lead. McCurry surrendered one hit and struck out one as she recorded her first career save.
Offensively, Reese Weber led the way with four hits on the day and was one of 11 Tigers to record a base knock. Patton Akers, Sarah Snell and Katie Schneider each finished with two hits in a game, a feat Weber accomplished in both contests.
After back-to one-out singles in the first inning of game one by Snell and Weber, Schneider singled to plate Snell for the early 1-0 lead. Three batters later, Akers brought home Weber on a single to right center.
The Tigers took a commanding lead with five runs in the third, extending their lead to 7-0. TSU scored three runs on Bulldog miscues to go along with a sacrifice fly by Savanah Wallace and a bases loaded walk to Snell. The base on balls by Snell tied her with Brittany Webb (2008-11) for the career lead in TSU history with 65.
AAMU would try to climb back in the game with runs in the fourth and fifth, cutting the lead to five at 7-2. The Big Blue would respond with three runs in the sixth to end the game early.
Weber delivered an RBI single and scored on an errant throw as Maddison Clark stole second base. Clark scored the game ending run on an RBI single off the bat of Akers.
In game two, Schneider put the Tigers on the board with a run scoring double that chased home Bri Vire. TSU ended the inning with a 2-0 lead as Wallace earned her second sacrifice fly of the day.
After Akers scored on an error in the second inning, Lauren Farias scored all the way from second on a sacrifice fly by Bri Vire. Farias tagged at second as Vire’s fly went to deep right. Farias had the opportunity to score as the fielder fell while trying to secure the catch.
The lead increased to 5-1 in the third inning as Schneider scored on a ground out by Beckey Melton. But the Bulldogs worked their way back into the game with a run in the fifth and a two-run home run in the sixth.
Farias recorded a sacrifice fly of her own, platting Clark in the bottom of the sixth. Vire followed with a single up the middle to bring home Jordan Wharton and Autumn Ogletree. The Tigers closed out the scoring as Snell hit her second triple of the season, allowing Vire to score from first.