Softball Recaps - March 16

Softball Recaps - March 16

WEDNESDAY'S SCORES
Eastern Illinois 8, @IUPUI 0
Eastern Illinois 5, @IUPUI 3
UT Martin 8, @Saint Louis 0
South Dakota 7, @SIUE 5
@SIUE 2
, South Dakota 0
Bellarmine 1, @Tennessee State 0
@Tennessee State 1, Bellarmine 0
@Morehead State 3, Eastern Kentucky 1
@Middle Tennessee 4, Austin Peay 2

EASTERN ILLINOIS 8, IUPUI 0; EASTERN ILLINOIS 4, IUPUI 3
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -
 One game was decided in five innings, the other went to extra innings.  In the end, Eastern Illinois came out on top in both contests as the Panthers swept a midweek softball doubleheader at IUPUI to extend their win streak to six games. 

EIU won the opener 8-0 in five innings before scoring two runs in the ninth inning to win the second game 5-3.  

The Panthers improved to 13-12 on the season with two wins while IUPUI dropped to 2-22 on the season.

EIU 8, IUPUI 0 
Olivia Price was sharp in the circle in the opener allowing just two IUPUI hits as the Panthers jumped out early during a 8-0 win in five innings.  Price picked up the complete game victory improving to 3-3 on the season as she had five strikeouts with just one walk.

The Panthers provided Price with all the offense she would need scoring four runs in the top of the first.  Riley Dittmar drove in the first run with a sacrfice fly after EIU loaded the bases against Jags starters Carly Metcalf (1-8).  Maddie Swart followed with the big shot of the inning clearing the bases with a three run home run.  

EIU added two more runs in the top of the third with Dittmar and Kendall Fields both delivering RBI singles.  

The Panthers tacked on unearned runs in the fourth and fifth to pick up the run rule victory after five innings.

Dittmar and Hannay Cravens both had two hits for EIU in the opener.

EIU 5, IUPUI 3
In the second game EIU scored two runs in the top of the ninth inning to pick up the extra inning win and sweep the doubleheader.  Amber Cieplinski drove in the game winning run with a sacrfice fly as pinch runner Olivia Price scored from third.   Megan Burton gave the Panthers an insurance run two batters later with a solo home run as she was 4-for-4 in the game.

IUPUI had tied the game at 3-3 with three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning taking advantage of an EIU error that extended the inning.  The final two runs of the inning for IUPUI came on fly balls by Ashley Shelton and Jaylin Calvert.

Alexa Rehmeier pitched the first four innings of the game and then returned in the sixth to close out the game.  She improvd to 5-2 on the season picking up 12 strikeouts in eight innings of work in the circle.   Isabelle Waggner went the distance for IUPUI falling to 0-3.

The Panthers scored the first run of the game in the top of the second on a Burton RBI single to left.  

EIU added two more runs in the fifth taking advantage of an IUPUI error to score one run before the second run came courtesy of Hannah Cravens ninth home run of the season.

SOUTH DAKOTA 7, SIUE 5; SIUE 2, SOUTH DAKOTA 0
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. -
 Lexi King tossed a six-hit shutout as SIUE softball collected a split Wednesday in its home opener at Cougar Field against South Dakota.

King improved her record to 2-0 for the season and won the game 2-0. SIUE dropped the opener to the Coyotes 7-5.

SIUE improved to 8-13 for the season. South Dakota is now 14-8 overall.

King had two hits and scored the eventual winning run in the first inning off an RBI single from Lauren Yslava.

She helped set up the second run of the game in the fifth when Aerin Talley scored on a sacrifice fly by Bailley Concatto.

In game one, South Dakota's Courtney Wilson two-run double in the top of the sixth broke a 5-5 tie.

SIUE had seven hits in game one, including two from Jenna Herron. Ashlyn Betz also recorded her first career hit and first career RBI in the game.

Next up for the Cougars is the beginning of the Ohio Valley Conference regular season. SIUE welcomes Murray State for a three-game series Saturday and Sunday. Saturday's noon start will be a doubleheader followed by a single game Sunday at noon.

MOREHEAD STATE 3, EASTERN KENTUCKY 1
MOREHEAD, Ky. - 
Morehead State picked up its first win of the season on Wednesday as the Eagles defeated Eastern Kentucky, 3-1. 

Madeline Gailor led Morehead State going 2-for-3 with three RBI. Alexis Strother also had a paira of hits. 

Lennon Spicer went the distance in the circle for the Eagles, giving up just one earned run and stirking out a career-high 10. 

Morehead State will open up OVC play this weekend as it travels to Eastern Illinois for at three-game series. 

MIDDLE TENNESSEE 4, AUSITN PEAY 2
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. -
 Austin Peay State University’s softball team had its chances versus Middle Tennessee, Wednesday at Blue Raiders Softball Field, but couldn’t come up with the big hit with runners in scoring position in a 4-2 loss. 

Of the eight runners the Governors (13-11) left on base during the game, were in scoring position, as Austin Peay went 0-12 with runners in scoring position. 

Austin Peay did get off to a good start, with Bailey Shorter leading off the game with her second home run of the season. 

It was still 1-0, when Middle Tennessee (12-14) scored two unearned runs in the bottom of the second to take the lead, 2-1. 

The Govs would tie the game in the third, 2-2, with Lexi Osowski doubling in Megan Hodum, who reached on an infield single. 

The Blue Raiders would take the lead for good with a run in the bottom of the inning and added an insurance run in the sixth, with their third unearned run of the game. 

UT MARTIN 8, SAINT LOUIS 0
ST. LOUIS, Mo. - 
The University of Tennessee at Martin pitching tandem of Alexis Groet and Erin Gallagher combined to toss a shutout while the Skyhawk offense saw four different players tally multiple base hits on the way to an 8-0 road victory at Atlantic 10 foe Saint Louis on Wednesday afternoon.

The Skyhawks (13-7) posted a dominating team effort in the squad’s final tune-up before opening Ohio Valley Conference play this weekend by eclipsing 10 hits while pitching a shutout and playing a clean game defensively with zero errors. UT Martin scored early and often by putting a run on the board in the first and another in the third before breaking the game open with three runs in both the fifth and sixth innings to end the game early.

Groet (6-3, 1.29 ERA) picked up her sixth win of the season by holding the Billikens in check for five innings. During her stretch she faced just two batters above the minimum while striking out two and allowing just one walk and a hit. Gallagher appeared in relief where she completed the combined shutout with one strikeout in the frame. 

Offensively, four different players tallied multiple base hits with the quartet of Paige Clark, Kaitlyn Kelley, Anna Hazlewood and Shyanne Sheffield each scratching out two hits each. Sheffield led the team with three RBIs on the afternoon while Clark added two of her own, along with two more stolen bases to bring her career total up to 84.

UT Martin was able to jump out to its early lead after Clark led off the game with a single to second base before swiping second to move into scoring position and sole possession of third place on the program’s all-time steals leaderboard. After later moving over to third on a single up the middle by Kelley, Clark then came home the final 60 feet on a sacrifice fly RBI by Kallie Pickens to take a 1-0 advantage.

Another sacrifice fly led to the team’s second run of the contest in the third inning. After reaching base via a hit by pitch earlier in the inning, Kaci Fuller later made her way around the bases and ultimately scored on a RBI by Sheffield to pad the margin to two runs.

The Skyhawks would maintain their two-run advantage until the top of the fifth when they added some insurance runs to their scoring column. After back-to-back outs to start the frame, the team strung together a two-out rally as Hazlewood doubled to right field before being pulled for pinch runner Anna Blanton. That change paid off on the next at-bat as Blanton came around to score on a single through the left side by Sheffield. Then after Emily Gilstrap reached via a hit by pitch, two runs came home to score as Clark ripped an opposite field triple down the right field line to clear the bases and give UT Martin a 5-0 lead.

UT Martin ultimately put the game away in the top of the sixth inning by reaching the eight-run margin to enact the mercy rule following the bottom of the frame. The big three-run inning began with a single through the left side by Kelley before Pickens reached via a walk. The pair later both moved into scoring position on a wild pitch to set up Hazlewood for a RBI opportunity which she cashed in with a single through the right side to bring in a run. Little did the Billikens know that single was just the first of three consecutive RBI base knocks followed by Sheffield and Gilstrap to pad the Skyhawks margin and bring the eventual final score to 8-0.

The Skyhawks will return home this weekend to open OVC play when playing host to Tennessee Tech for a three-game series beginning on Saturday, March 19. First pitch of the doubleheader from Bettye Giles Field is slated for 1 p.m.