MONDAY'S SCORES
@Eastern Kentucky 5, Tennessee State 0
@Eastern Illinois 9, UT Martin 7
UT Martin 1, @Eastern Illinois 0
Jacksonville State 7, @Austin Peay 4 (9)
@Tennessee 8,
Tennessee Tech 0
EASTERN KENTUCKY 5, TENNESSEE STATE 0
RICHMOND, Ky. - The Eastern Kentucky University softball team pushed its winning streak to seven games with its second straight conference sweep with a 5-0 win over Tennessee State on Monday afternoon.
Eastern Kentucky (25-9, 16-4 OVC) struck first in the bottom of the third inning and that was all pitcher Tori Peterson needed in the circle.
Jaelyn Sanders started the scoring for the Colonels in the bottom of the third after taking a 1-0 pitch over the right center field fence for her fifth home run of the season to give EKU the 1-0 advantage.
The Colonels added some insurance in the bottom of the fourth.
Mattira Morales got things started with a pinch hit double down the right field line to put a runner on second with no one out. Lou Bowers followed with a single up the middle to bring home Vianna Barron and the Colonels took a 2-0 lead. Miranda Lopez singled down the left field line and advanced to second on the throw to put runners on second and third with one out in the inning. Sammi Miller delivered with a line drive right back up the middle off the pitcher’s glove to score another run and Eastern took a 3-0 lead after four innings.
The Colonels added two more in the bottom of the sixth after a RBI double by Miller and a RBI single by Ariyana Miranda.
Tennessee State (8-22, 4-18 OVC) only managed four hits on the contest.
Peterson (13-2) started in the circle tossing a complete game shutout, with one strikeout and zero walks. Peterson threw 78 pitches in the game.
Miller went 3-for-4 with one double and two RBIs. Bowers went 2-for-3 with one RBI.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 9, UT MARTIN 7; UT MARTIN 1, EASTERN ILLINOIS 0
CHARLESTON, Ill. - – A day after having their series opener rained out, Eastern Illinois and UT Martin split a Monday Ohio Valley Conference doubleheader at Williams Field.
EIU had a come-from-behind win in the opener, 9-7, before UT Martin received a standout performance in the circle for a 1-0 win the second game.
In the opener EIU trailed most of the contest as UT Martin built a 4-1 lead heading into the bottom of the fifth. Kaci Fuller, who was 3-for-5 in the game, came around to score two of her three runs early in the game.
EIU would tie the game at 4-4 in the bottom of the fifth as Katie Nicholson reached on an RBI infield single and Amber Cieplinski drove home two with a single to right.
UT Martin bounced right back in the top of the sixth to regain the lead at 6-4 with Kaitlyn Kelley driving home two with a single up the middle.
In the bottom of the sixth, EIU loaded the bases with Haley Mitchell driving in a run with a single up the middle. Hannah Cravens then cleared the based with a grand slam that hit the left field foul pole.
UT Martin added one run in the seventh before Jade Montgomery was able to get two infield pop ups with the tying run at second base for her second save of the year. Olivia Price moved to 9-3 on the year with the win. Seeley Layne fell to 1-3 with the loss in relief.
In the second game Alexis Groet (10-3) was solid in the circle for the Skyhawks scattering five hits with eight strikeouts during the 1-0 win.
The one run in the game came in the second inning as Paige Clark reached on an infield error. She would come around to score on a double by Maddie Long in what proved to be the only run Montgomery allowed for EIU in the start.
Shyanne Sheffield had two hits for UTM in the second game as Montgomery (6-9) allowed only six hits with seven strikeouts.
Katie Nicholson had two of the Panthers five hits in the second game.
Megan Burton, Morgan Lewis and Mia Davis all had three hits in the opener for EIU.
Fuller and Kallie Pickins had three hits in the opener for UTM with Fuller adding four stole bases in the game.
EIU is now 19-12 overall, 11-7 in the OVC. UTM is 20-11 overall, 9-8 in the OVC.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 7, AUSTIN PEAY 4
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Austin Peay State University’s softball team saw its 10-game win streak come to an end in extra-innings, Monday afternoon at Cathi Maynard Park-Cheryl Holt Field, dropping a 7-4, nine-inning, Ohio Valley Conference contest to Jacksonville State.
The Govs (20-9, 15-7 OVC) got on the board first, in the bottom of the second inning, scoring twice, with Brett Jackson driving in Drew Dudley with a double followed by Jackson scoring on a single by Kendyl Weinzapfel.
Austin Peay would add two more runs in the third, the first coming on an RBI single by Kelsey Gross, that brought in Bailey Shorter, and Dudley forcing in Lexi Osowski when she was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.
The score would remain that way until the top of the fifth, when the Gamecocks (13-18, 11-9 OVC) took advantage of a walk and a hit batter before giving up a home run to Alexus Jimmerson make it, 4-3.
JSU would tie the game, 4-4, in the sixth on an RBI single by Savannah Sudduth against Govs starter Jordan Benefiel, who was lifted for Gross, who got the final out of the inning.
Both teams failed to score over the next two innings, but Jacksonville State hit two home runs in the ninth, the first a pinch-hit homer by Alex Howard, then a two-run homer later in the inning by Jimmerson for the 7-4 final margin.
TENNESSEE 8, TENNESSEE TECH 0
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Shelby Penning collected the lone hit for the Tennessee Tech softball team on Monday, breaking up Ashley Rogers’ no-hit bid as No. 16 Tennessee blanked the Golden Eagles 8-0.
Tech (15-19) returns to action this weekend as it hosts SIUE in a three-game set.
Rogers yielded the lone Tech hit to Penning in the fourth inning as she dropped a ball into right field. She struck out five of her 16 batters faced, throwing a total of 69 pitches to earn her 17th win of the season.
Alyssa Arden saw her record fall to 8-11 on the season, allowing five runs on five hits while issuing six walks and striking out two in four frames of action. Callie Piper came in to pitch in the bottom of the fifth, allowing three runs on two hits as the Lady Vols (29-6) enacted the run-rule.
Kiki Milloy led Tennessee at the plate, driving in three RBI with a home run in the bottom of the fifth. Chelsea Seggern and Rylie West both went 2-for-2 at the plate, Seggern with one RBI and West with two.
Seggern drove in the first run in the home half of the opening inning as she delivered a single to bring in Cailin Hannon. The Lady Vols struck for three runs in the third as West drove in Treasuary Poindexter with a single up the middle, Hannon received a bases-loaded walk to push Seggern across, then West scored on a wild pitch.
West drove in another run as she put a triple into left center, driving in Seggern in the fourth. In the final frame, Milloy hit the three-run shot to score Hannan and Parsons to walk off the contest with the run rule.