FRIDAY'S SCORES
@Eastern Illinois 5, Tennessee State 0
@Eastern Illinois 7, Tennessee State 1
@SIUE 4, Belmont 0
@SIUE 5, Belmont 1
UT Martin 2, @Tennessee Tech 1
@Murray State 14, Morehead State 4 (5)
EASTERN ILLINOIS 5, TENNESSEE STATE 0; ESTERN ILLINOIS 7, TENNESSEE STATE 1
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Eastern Illinois softball honored the members of its senior class on Friday and had several of those players contribute as the Panthers swept a doubleheader from Tennessee State.
EIU won 5-0 and 7-1 to secure a winning record in the OVC this season as EIU is now 25-18 overall, 16-13 in the OVC. TSU fell to 8-33 overall, 4-26.
In the opener EIU raced out to a 5-0 lead in the first two innings before the contest was delayed 50 minutes due to weather.
Amber Cieplinski and Hannah Cravens drove in runs in the first inning while seniors Mia Davis and Haley Mitchell drove home runs in the second. Davis had a two-run single.
Following the delay TSU pitcher Raven Loveless allowed just two hits in the remaining four innings of work.
The five runs were more than enough for EIU senior starter Jade Montgomery as she scattered two hits with three strikeouts for the complete game win. It was her third complete game shutout win in the last four starts.
In the second game Montgomery helped lead the offense as she was 3-for-3 at the plate including a pair of solo home runs.
EIU belted out four home runs in the game. Cieplinski had a two-run shot in the first inning and Megan Burton hit her OVC leading 18th home run in the sixth.
Senior Valerie Thompson pitched the final four innings in relief for EIU to pick up the win.
TSU scored in the sixth inning with Kayli Mothershed driving home Lauren Farias.
SIUE 4, BELMONT 0; SIUE 5, BELMONT 1
EDWARDVILLE, Ill. - SIUE ran its winning streak to eight games Saturday with a doubleheader sweep over visiting Belmont on Senior Day Friday at Cougar Field.
The Cougars defeated the Bruins 4-0 and 5-1. The final game of the series is set for Saturday at 1 p.m.
Emily Ingles, Jade Kranawetter, Rachael Quaritsch, Zoe Schafer, Bianca Vozenilek and team manager Asahni Wallace were honored between games.
It was the senior's 13th career shutout in game one and back-to-back over the past two weeks.
Freshman Sydney Baalman, 9-9, performed equally as well in the nightcap. Despite allowing a run on Belmont's only hit, Baalman fanned a season-best 12 batters.
In game one, Alana Cobb-Adams gave the Cougars the only run it needed with a solo home run in the third. Bailley Concatto helped the Cougars shut the down with a bases-loaded double to right field in the sixth inning with Micah Arps scoring along with seniors Quaritsch and Schafer.
In the second game, the Cougars got off to a strong start with two runs in the first inning for Baalman. Schafer drove home Cobb-Adams with an RBI. Arps, who outmaneuvered a five-player infield shift twice, later singled home Schafer.
Elison Ollinger recorded the lone hit in the fourth inning for Belmont in game two, a single that scored Savannah Halterman.
Lexi King gave SIUE a two-run lead once again in the bottom half of the fourth with a single to center field that scored Arps.
Concatto came through again in the fifth with two more RBI, this time scoring Arps and Kylie Lane.
UT MARTIN 2, TENNESSEE TECH 1
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Martin softball team went on the road and scratched out a 2-1 win to begin the final series of the season against Ohio Valley Conference foe Tennessee Tech on Friday evening.
aThe Skyhawks (26-18, 15-14 OVC) picked up a strong pitching performance in the circle while capitalizing on some defensive miscues to snap the team’s losing skid and begin the three-game series on the right foot with a victory.
UT Martin was limited to just three hits on the afternoon but made the most of its scoring opportunities by playing small ball with three sacrifice hits. The Skyhawks also made the Golden Eagles pay for their two errors on the afternoon with both leading to runs.
While runs were at a premium, a big reason for that was the effort of today’s starting pitcher Alexis Groet who picked up her 13th win of the season after tossing her fifth complete game while striking out six, allowing three hits and zero earned runs on the day.
Three different players reached the hit column for the Skyhawks. Kaitlyn Kelley, Kaci Fuller and Kalli Pickens each recorded base hits on the day while Aalia Bivens performed unselfishly by laying down a pair of sacrifice bunts.
Tennessee Tech (18-29, 12-19 OVC) was able to get onto the scoreboard first in the contest, tallying a run in the bottom of the third inning. The Skyhawks would nearly escape the inning without any damage after a pop up and a fielder’s choice, but a fielding error on the infield began a recurring theme in the game, allowing the Golden Eagles to score an unearned run and take a 1-0 advantage.
UT Martin struck back in the top of the fifth inning to tie up the contest as Fuller led off the frame with an infield single. Bivens then moved the speedster into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt before Bryleigh Carneal drew a walk to put runners on first and second with two outs. Similar to the play that got Tech on the board, a two-out error allowed the lead runner to score from second base off the bat of Macey Neal to knot the game at one run each.
The game’s third error proved costly as well but to the benefit of the Skyhawks in the top of the sixth inning. Kelley tallied the team’s lone hit of the inning with a single into center before being pulled for pinch runner Emily Alexander who advanced into scoring position on a wild pitch. On the following at-bat, Maddi Long put down a sacrifice to third base to move Alexander over before she came home on the same play on a fielding error to score the eventual game-winning run.
The Golden Eagles threatened with a scoring chance in the bottom of the seventh after Sydney Love-Baker started the frame with a single down the right field line. After being pulled for a pinch runner, Tech would push its potential game-tying run over to third before Groet clinched the victory with a strikeout to strand the runner.
MURRAY STATE 14, MOREHEAD STATE 1
MURRAY, Ky. - Recap coming soon.