MONDAY'S SCORES
@Eastern Illinois 4, Murray State 0
UT Martin 9, @Belmont 3
Belmont 5, @UT Martin 4
Jacksonville State 1, @Morehead State 0
@Morehead State 3, Jacksonville State 0
@Eastern Kentucky 6, Tennessee Tech 3
EASTERN ILLINOIS 4, MURRAY STATE 0
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Jade Montgomery scattered two hits on Monday afternoon as Eastern Illinois won the final game of its weekend series against Murray State with a 4-0 decision at Williams Field.
Montgomery set down the first ten Racer batters she faced before Jensen Streigel singled in the fourth. Lexi Jones would add a single in the sixth to account for the only two Murray State hits on the day.
EIU’s offense came in the early innings as Abi Stahlhut drove home the first run of the game with an RBI double in the bottom of the second.
Megan Burton hit her 16th home run of the season in the third with a two-run shot down the right field line. That home run would force the Racers into a pitching change as Jenna Veber would then close out the contest with four innings in the circle.
Aniya Holt added an RBI single in the fourth to drive home the Panthers final run.
EIU moved to 21-17 overall, 12-12 in the OVC. Murray State is now 19-25 overall, 16-12 in the OVC.
UT MARTIN 9, BELMONT 3; BELMONT 5, UT MARTIN 4
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Thanks to a walk-off single from senior Cheyenne Cavanaugh in game three, the Belmont University softball team won game three of its series with UT Martin following a 9-3 loss on Monday at Rose Park.
Junior Audrey Lyle, sophomore Abi Ledbetter, and senior Elison Ollinger all recorded multi-hit games, with Lyle and Ledbetter obtaining two hits in game two and Ollinger collecting a pair of hits in game three. Freshman Alex Clesi picked up her fourth win of the season in Monday's finale, not allowing a hit in the final two innings of play.
Game 2
UT Martin struck first at the start of Sunday's game two, scoring four runs in the top of the second inning off an RBI single and a three-RBI triple. The Skyhawks added three more runs in the top of the third inning, but Belmont cut away at the deficit with a two-RBI double from sophomore Lauren Veltri in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Lyle hit a solo home run in the bottom of the sixth inning before the 9:50 p.m. curfew was called and play was forced to resume on Monday. Starting with the top of the seventh inning on Monday, UT Martin loaded the bases with two outs. A fielding error by Belmont allowed two runs to score, giving UT Martin a 9-3 lead.
Belmont hit a leadoff double to start the bottom of the seventh inning, but three consecutive outs prevented a comeback and gave the Skyhawks the series win.
Game 3
UT Martin once again got things started in the top of the second inning in game three, scoring two runs off an RBI single and a fielder's choice. Freshman Kaley Varner scored Veltri off an RBI triple after she drew a walk, where Varner tied the game by scoring a run off a wild pitch later in the bottom of the second inning to tie the score.
Lyle gave the Bruins the lead in the bottom of the fourth inning, hitting her seventh home run of the season. UT Martin responded in the following half-inning, hitting a 2-RBI double to give the Skyhawks the 4-3 advantage. Ollinger answered back by hitting her second home run of the season in the bottom of the fifth inning, allowing the Bruins to tie it up 4-4.
After Belmont stranded a UT Martin runner in the top of the seventh inning, Belmont got two runners on-base following a single and hit-by-pitch. Cavanaugh delivered the knockout in the following at-bat, hitting a single to center field that drove in the game-winning run.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 1, MOREHEAD STATE 0; MOREHEAD STATE 3, JACKSONVILLE STATE 3
MOREHEAD, Ky. -
Gamecocks take one of two from MSU in Monday twinbill
4/26/2021 | Softball
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Jacksonville State split a Monday doubleheader with Morehead State to cap a three-game series with the host Eagles.
Hits were few and far between for both sides during Monday's twinbill. JSU (19-21, 17-11 Ohio Valley Conference) evenly split six hits across both contests, taking a slim 1-0 win in game one of the day, before a 3-0 setback in the finale. The Eagles (11-24, 3-20 OVC) registered just seven hits on Monday.
Senior Nicole Rodriguez shined in the circle for the Gamecocks in game one. The Fort Myers, Fla., native, received just one run from her offense late in the ballgame, but it was all she required for her sixth win of the season after suffocating the MSU offense all day.
Rodriguez struck out 11 and allowed just two hits as she breezed through the Eagle lineup with a gem of a performance. After MSU picked up its final hit in the third inning, Rodriguez retired 12 straight batters before issuing a two-out walk in the bottom of the seventh. It was her first walk allowed all game, but a strikeout to the following batter capped the 1-0 win after JSU took the lead in the top of the seventh.
Ellie Largen pinch ran for Megan Fortner who drew a walk to begin the inning. Largen advanced to third on a double by Sidney Wagnon, and came home during a fielder's choice off the bat of Keeli Bobbitt.
The Gamecock fortunes weren't as positive in the second game of the day as Rodriguez returned to the circle looking to build off her earlier momentum. An error behind her allowed the MSU leadoff hitter to reach to open the bottom of the first, after hitting the second batter, an infield single loaded the bases for the Eagles without an out. MSU scored two on a single down the right field line on the next at-bat, before JSU began to regain control. Rodriguez retired the next three hitters, but a sac fly to center field plates MSU's third run of the inning.
Rodriguez would go 2.2 innings in the second game, being lifted for Alexus Jimmerson in the third who would finish the final 3.1 frames. Jimmerson struck out five and allowed three hits and no runs throughout the rest of the contest, however the Gamecock offense could never recover from the early deficit.
JSU spread three hits across seven innings against MSU's Lennon Spicer, but failed to plate a run in the 3-0 setback in the final game of the series.
JSU takes another road trip next weekend to Tennessee State for its final three-game road set of the season.
EASTERN KENTUCKY 6, TENNESSEE TECH 3
RICHMOND, Ky. - The Eastern Kentucky University softball team used a five-run sixth inning to knock off Tennessee Tech, 6-3, to complete the sweep and push its winning streak to five games on Monday.
Heading to the bottom of the sixth inning the Colonels trailed, 2-1, that is when Eastern got things going.
Carly Robinson got things started with a lead off walk. After Melissa Jacobsen came on to pinch run, Vianna Barron singled to the shortstop and the Golden Eagles threw it past the second baseman into right field. Jacobsen came around to score on the throw. The throw from the right fielder got away from the catcher and Barron scored to take a 3-2 lead over Tennessee Tech.
Ariyana Miranda followed with a double down the right field line to keep things going. Jeanay Riley brought home Miranda with a sacrifice fly to give the Colonels a 4-2 advantage. With two outs in the inning Miranda Lopez, Lou Bowers, Sammi Miller and Zoe Mihalicz recorded four consecutive hits to push the Eastern lead to 6-2.
Tennessee Tech (18-24, 12-15 OVC) got off to a quick start in the top of the first pushing two runs across on a two RBI single by Beth McCulley.
Eastern Kentucky (30-11, 21-5 OVC) answered back in the bottom of the first after Mihalicz doubled off the left center field fence to score Miller from first.
The Golden Eagles pushed one across in the top of the seventh on a solo home run by Nicolle Nysted to cut into the EKU lead to, 6-3. TTU loaded the bases in the top of the seventh, but Mollie Paulick got a pop out to second base to end the game.
Paulick (10-0) picked up the win in the circle tossing six innings in relief, allowing one run and striking out seven.
Miller went 2-for-4 with two RBIs on the contest. Mihalicz chipped in a 2-for-3 with one RBI and one walk.