SUNDAY'S SCORES
Eastern Kentucky 4, @Southeast Missouri 1
@Austin Peay 4, Tennessee State 0
@Jacksonville State 7, Eastern Illinois 6
@Tennessee Tech 3, SIUE 1
@UT Martin 7, Morehead State 0
Belmont 5, @Murray State 0
EASTERN KENTUCKY 4, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 1
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - The Eastern Kentucky University softball team defeated Southeast Missouri State, 4-1, on Sunday afternoon to win the series and move into first place in the Ohio Valley Conference standings.
The two teams came into the weekend in first and second in the OVC standings.
Eastern Kentucky (27-11, 18-5 OVC) struck first in the top of the fourth.
Zoe Mihalicz led off the top of the fourth for the Colonels taking the 2-2 pitch over the left center field fence to give Eastern the 1-0 lead.
Southeast Missouri (21-14, 16-5 OVC) answered back in the bottom of the fifth.
Alyson Tucker got things started for the Redhawks with a double into the right center gap.
After a Jillian Anderson walk put runners on first and second with no one out, Rachel Anderson singled up the middle to score Tucker and tie the game at 1-1.
Pitcher Mollie Paulick got a line out to right field to leave the bases loaded and the game tied at 1-1.
The Colonels responded in the top of the sixth with four straight hits to start the inning.
Sammi Miller got things started with a single down the left field line. Mihalicz followed with a single into right center to put runners on the corners with no one out. Carly Robinson delivered with a double off the right center field fence to score Miller and give the Colonels a 2-1 advantage. Paulick answered with the fourth consecutive hit of the inning with a single off the first base bag to score two and give Eastern a 4-1 lead.
Paulick (8-0) tossed six innings in relief, allowing one run, and striking out four.
Miller went 3-for-4 with one run. Mihalicz went 2-for-3 with one home run, two runs scored and one RBI.
AUSTIN PEAY 4, TENNESSEE STATE 0
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Shelby Harpe and Jordan Benefiel combined to throw a three-hit shutout for Austin Peay State University in its Ohio Valley Conference series finale versus Tennessee State, Sunday at Cathi Maynard Park-Cheryl Holt Field, as the Govs defeated the Tigers, 4-0.
Making her first start of the season for Austin Peay (23-9, 18-7 OVC), Harpe (1-0) went the first five innings versus the Tigers (8-27, 4-21 OVC), giving up just three singles and three walks, while Benefiel picked up her first collegiate save after coming in and throwing two shutout innings in relief, giving up no hits and striking out three.
After trading two scoreless innings, Austin Peay would break on top in the third inning, scoring a couple of runs on a two-out single to center field by Brooke Pfefferle, driving in Kendyl Weinzapfel and Kelsey Gray.
The Govs would add-on two insurance runs in the sixth inning, with Mea Clark leading off the hit with her first career hit – a double to left field – and scoring a batter later off a single by Emily Harkleroad to make it 3-0 Govs.
Drew Dudley would then score Harkleroad with an infield out for the 4-0 final margin.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 7, EASTERN ILLINOIS 6
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - Alex Howard's walk-off, pinch-hit double in the seventh inning lifted the Jacksonville State softball team to a 7-6 win and a three-game series sweep of Eastern Illinois on Sunday afternoon.
Howard lined a two-run double past a diving center fielder and drove in Karsen Mosley and Sidney Wagnon to give the Gamecocks (16-19, 14-9 Ohio Valley Conference) a dramatic win against the Panthers (19-15, 11-10 OVC), whoe entered the day one game back of JSU in the standings.
Senior Alexus Jimmerson continued her recent tear, going 2-for-4 with a homer and extended her hitting streak and streak of consecutive games with an extra-base hit to 10 games. She also earned her third-straight win in relief.
Howard's game winner was the second walk-off hit in the young career of the freshman from Oxford, Ala.
For the third time in the series, Eastern Illinois scored in the top of the first. Morgan Lewis doubled in Megan Burton after she reached on a leadoff walk. The lead didn't last long, thanks to three-straight singles from Savannah Sudduth, Shelby Newsome and Jada Terry in the bottom of the first that tied the game.
The Gamecocks grabbed their first lead in the second, when Keeli Bobbitt's infield single led to a throwing error from third baseman Aniya Holt that allowed Chaney Phillips to cross and put JSU up 2-1.
EIU tied the game briefly on Burton's solo homer in the third, but Alexus Jimmerson's solo blast in the home half of the third put JSU back up, 3-2.
The Panthers pulled back ahead with a two-run sixth, that was sparked by a leadoff homer from Amber Cieplinski. An RBI grounder by Katie Nicholson scored the go ahead run in the sixth.
The Gamecocks went to work quickly in the home half of the sixth, getting back-to-back singles from Lauren Hunt and Bobbitt to set up a Newsome sac fly that tied the game at 4-4.
Hannah Cravens delivered EIU's next blow and it was a big one. She laced a two-out, two-run double down the left-field line that put the Gamecocks in another hole.
They dug out once again. Jimmerson started it with a leadoff single, and her pinch runner Ellie Largen scored on Karsen Mosley's double that cut it back to a one-run game. Megan Fortner followed with a walk and Phillips bunted her and Mosley into scoring position to set up Howard's game winner.
Jimmerson (4-5) won her third-straight decision after pitching two innings and limiting the Panthers to two runs on one hit and three walks. She struck out two in relief of Nicole Rodriguez, who tossed the first five innings and allowed four runs on six hits while striking out seven.
Olivia Price (9-5) suffered the loss without recording an out. She only faced Fortner and walked her, but she ended up representing the winning run. Sydney Cammon faced every other batter and allowed six runs on 12 hits in 6 and 1/3 innings of work. She came back into the circle after Fortner walked and gave up the game winning hit to Howard.
TENNESSEE TECH 3, SIUE 1
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Tennessee Tech’s battery was pushing it to the limit on Sunday, trying to do everything to close out the series against SIUE with a win.
With the way Haeli Bryson pitched and catcher Raleigh Lewis came through, there’s definitely some thought that the Golden Eagles could be building some momentum entering the home stretch of the Ohio Valley Conference slate.
Tech (17-20, 11-11 OVC) claimed the 3-1 victory on Sunday to take the series two games to one.
Bryson yielded four hits in the finale, just one creating a run as Zoe Schafer went yard in the top of the first. She finished the complete-game effort with one walk and three strikeouts. For the weekend, Bryson recorded a 0.88 earned run average with two complete-game victories, allowing two earned runs in 16 innings with two walks and five strikeouts, while batters hit .186 against her.
It’s an SIUE team that has potential to put up some big hits – Schafer’s home run Sunday and the 10-run outburst in Saturday’s nightcap as the obvious examples – so just to contain the Cougars to the one homer was a big victory in itself.
Bryson improved to 8-4 on the season. The junior saw her numbers get better last year before the COVID-19 pandemic shortened the slate, but Bryson has had a breakout season, improving her ERA to 2.55 on the year with six complete games, an impressive 11 walk to 45 strikeout ratio and a .227 opposing batting average.
Lewis, meanwhile, has started to become more comfortable at the plate after returning from an injury in the fall. She came in as a substitute to the injured Nicolle Nysted against Austin Peay and has started to see her bat come alive.
On Sunday, she went 2-for-3 and drove in the game-winning and insurance runs, knocking in Shelby Penning with a single to right field in the fourth to break a 1-1 tie, then roping a single into center field to bring Chandler Caldwell home for the third and final run of the game.
Jessie Lowery also had a strong day at the plate, going 3-4 as Tech’s other player to record a multi-hit game as the Golden Eagles collected nine hits. Mackenzie Fitzgerald, Caldwell and Penning also collected stolen bases in the win.
Schafer was the only Cougar batter to get more than one hit, while Lexi King and Rachael Quaritsch were only others to record a hit.
Sydney Baalman took the loss for SIUE (9-21, 9-14 OVC), allowing three runs on nine hits, walking two and striking out two.
UT MARTIN 7, MOREHEAD STATE 0
MARTIN, Tenn. - Freshman catcher Maddi Long had a career day both in the batters box and crouched behind the plate, hitting two home runs and calling a shutout as the University of Tennessee at Martin softball team picked up an Ohio Valley Conference series clinching shutout victory over Morehead State by a score of 7-0 on Sunday afternoon.
The Skyhawks (22-12, 11-9 OVC) picked up where they left off offensively the night before, tallying 13 hits in the contest while scoring seven runs against the Eagles. A total of four different players tallied multi-hit outings led by Long, Paige Clark, Kaitlyn Kelley and Emily Gilstrap with two hits each. Long paced the team with two home runs and four RBIs while Aalia Bivens also record a two-RBI double.
The pitching staff combined to pitch a shutout while limiting Morehead State to six hits in the contest. Alexis Groet earned the start but pitched just two innings while allowing three hits and issuing two walks. Erin Gallagher appeared in relief and was impressive en route to her fifth victory of the season, pitching five shutout innings while scattering three hits and two strikeouts.
The Skyhawks jumped out with two runs in the bottom of the first inning. Back-to-back singles by Shyanne Sheffield and Kelley started the rally for the home squad before Bivens poked a double into right field to clear the bases and take an early advantage.
They added another run in the bottom of the second inning to take a three-run lead. Gilstrap singled through the left side to lead off the inning before advancing to second on a groundout. Once in scoring position, she later came around to score on a single by Bryleigh Carneal and a throwing error by the first baseman.
UT Martin continued its offensive onslaught in the third inning behind the big bat of Long. A leadoff walk to Bivens spelled trouble as two batters later Long crushed her first home run of the day off the scoreboard in left field for her second home run of the season to give the Skyhawks a 5-0 advantage.
The slugging catcher had another big blast in the fifth inning to highlight her career day. A leadoff single by Clark started the frame before she moved into scoring position with a stolen base. After motoring into second, she simply had to trot home as Long blasted her second home run of the game and third of the season – this time over the left field scoreboard to put the home team up 7-0 and cap the afternoon’s scoring output.
BELMONT 5, MURRAY STATE 3
MURRAY, Ky. - Murray State softball wrapped up its six-game homestand with a single contest against Belmont on Sunday in the final edition of a three-game weekend series with the Bruins. Playing in their sixth extra-inning competition since March 16th, the Racers came up short in a ten-inning affair - falling to Belmont by a score of 5-3 at Racer Field in Murray, Kentucky.
Lauren Veltri opened the scoring for Belmont in the third when her RBI single gave the visitors a 1-0 advantage that served as the first Bruin lead of the weekend series.
The Racers responded in the fourth when Jensen Striegel sparked a two-run Racer frame after she stole second following her lead-off single as the Racers had a runner in scoring position with nobody out. Sierra Gilmore wasted no time bringing her around to score as the senior lined a full-count offering for a double that leveled the contest at 1-1. Murray State was not content with a tie score line, however, going on to capture its first lead of the afternoon three batters later when Jordan Childress scored Gilmore with a pinch-hit sacrifice fly to center field that put the home team in front by a score of 2-1 through four complete.
The Racers held that one-run margin until the seventh when Belmont forced extra innings courtesy of a lead-off solo home run from Audrey Lyle.
The two sides remained even at 2-2 until the Belmont half of the tenth when a Kaley Varner two-run home run put the Bruins in front. Audrey Lyle tacked on one more for the visitors when she launched her second home run of the day – another solo shot to make it 5-2.
A sacrifice fly off the bat of Gilmore in the home half scored Lily Fischer to get one run back for the Racers, but that would be the extent of the Murray State comeback effort as they fell to the Bruins 5-3 in the series finale as the Racers moved to 1-5 in extra-inning affairs in 2021.
Lily Fischer (2-5, 2B, R) and Jensen Striegel (2-5, R, 2 SB) each collected two hits to lead the way at the plate for the Racers, while Sierra Gilmore doubled and chipped in two RBI in the defeat.
Hannah James got the start in the circle, but worked only three innings – surrendering one earned run while striking out five in the outing. Jenna Veber took the loss, giving up four earned runs with a pair of strikeouts over six and two-thirds innings of relief.