SATURDAY'S SCORES
UT Martin 8, @SIUE 5
UT Martin 9, @SIUE 5
Austin Peay 3, @Eastern Illinois 1
Austin Peay 4, @Eastern Illinois 3
Tennessee Tech 4, @Tennessee State 3
Tennessee Tech 3, @Tennessee State 2
@Murray State 1, Southeast Missouri 0
@Belmont 6, Morehead State 0
@Belmont 7 Morehead State 4
TENNESSEE TECH 4, TENNESSEE STATE 3; TENNESSEE TECH 3, TENNESSEE STATE 2
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Tennessee State made Tennessee Tech earn everything on Saturday, keeping the Golden Eagles quiet on the scoreboard.
Tech had to tie the day’s opener in the sixth inning, then earn the extra-inning victory in the eighth to claim the opener 4-3. Then, after trailing 2-0 early, the Golden Eagles rallied for single runs in the third, fourth and fifth to take a 3-2 win in the nightcap.
In game one, TSU (12-33, 2-16 Ohio Valley Conference) tied its season high for hits with 11, matching the Golden Eagles in the column, as Peyton Fointno, Ryla Traylor and Maggie Klug each collected two safeties and Ivory Jones was 3-for-4 at the plate.
Mackenzie Fitzgerald, Haeli Bryson, Abby Buettner and Shelby Penning each had two hits in the opener.
The Golden Eagles got the game-winner in the top of the eighth. After Kaylan Cole led off with a walk, she advanced to second on Savannah Talley’s grounder to first. Shelby Penning flew out to right, moving Cole over to third on the sacrifice. Fitzgerald drove in the run as she dropped a single into left field.
Tyler Erwin, who had gone the previous seven frames, closed out the contest as she coaxed a fly out, yielded a double, then a grounder and a strikeout to preserve the win, her 11th of the season. Erwin improved to 11-2 as she allowed three runs – all earned – on 11 hits, walking two and striking out two.
Her counterpart, Raven Loveless, allowing four runs – three earned – on 11 hits, walking five and striking out none.
Tech scored first in the opening frame as Carmen Betts drove in Bryson on a double to right field. The Golden Eagles made it 2-0 in the second as Talley scored on a bases-loaded walk to Sydney Love-Baker.
TSU scored its first run in the bottom of the second as Jones hit a single to right field to drive in Lauren Farias. They added two more in the fifth as Farias had a sacrifice fly to left to bring in Fointno, then Klug’s single to right scored Traylor.
The Golden Eagles tied the game in the top of the sixth as Penning’s fly ball to left was deep enough to drive in Brooklin Richardson on the sacrifice.
TSU scored the first two runs of the second game. In the first, a Traylor bunt to the third-base side drove in Jasmine Brown, then, in the second, Farias came home on Kayli Mothershed’s sacrifice fly to straight-away center.
Tech chipped away in the top of the third as Sydney Dukes hit a grounder to second, but it was misplayed allowing Bryson to score after she reached on a walk and advanced on a wild pitch.
Fitzgerald tied the game in the top of the fourth. With Savannah Talley leading off the inning with a double to right center, she saw two retired before Fitzgerald stood in and launched a double into left center. Talley’s cross knotted the game at 2-all.
Tech took over in the fifth as Bryson led off with a double to center, then moved up on Love-Baker’s bunt to third. Dukes picked up the RBI as she singled to left to bring Bryson home.
Bryson picked up the complete-game win, allowing two runs – one earned – on five hits, walking one and striking out three. Caitlyn Manus took the loss, allowing three runs – two earned – on five hits, walking three and striking out five. Francys King threw the final two frames, yielding one hit as she walked one and struck out one.
Tech (29-14, 11-8 OVC) will conclude the series with the Tigers on Sunday. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.
MURRAY STATE 1, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 0
MURRAY, Ky. - The Murray State softball team took game one of its three-game series with Southeast Missouri Saturday with a 1-0 win over the Redhawks at Racer Field in Murray, Kentucky.
Despite getting four hits and leaving five on base, the Racers could not bring any of those runners home in the first three innings. However, in the fourth Jordan Childress hit a pinch hit double to score pinch runner Jordan Caple from second for MSU’s lone run of the game.
Hannah James carried a no-hitter 5.2 innings before allowing Southeast Missouri their first hit of the game in the top of the sixth. With one out in the seventh, Kat Sackett doubled for SEMO to give her team the tying run in scoring position with one out. However, the next two batters popped out and struck out to give the Racers the 1-0 win.
James pitched a complete game shutout Saturday, allowing two hits and two walks with nine strikeouts, her fourth of which allowed her to become the first Racer to record 500 career strikeouts. Logan Braundmeier was the only Racer to record multiple hits in the game going 2-for-3.
With the win the Racers become the first team to punch their ticket to next month’s OVC Softball Championship in Oxford, Alabama. Murray State has now qualified for the OVC tournament in 10 of 12 seasons in which the tournament was held and are 7-for-9 in postseason qualification under head coach Kara Amundson.
The Racers and Redhawks return to Racer field Sunday to conclude the series with a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m.
UT MARTIN 8, SIUE 5; UT MARTIN 9, SIUE 5
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Grace Lueke and Lauryn Yslava hit back-to-back homers in Saturday's second game of a doubleheader, but the Cougars came up empty in the win column.
UT Martin was victorious 8-5 in the opener and 9-5 in the nightcap. The Skyhawks improved to 27-14 overall and 12-5 in the Ohio Valley Conference while SIUE dropped to 15-28 overall and 6-14 in the OVC.
Kallie Pickens led the Skyhawks with a 4-for-4 performance in game two with three RBIs.
SIUE made a strong comeback in game two with a four-run fifth that included the Lueke and Yslava home runs.
Lueke hit her team-leading 10th home run of the season. That is the most by a Cougar in a single season since Alex McDavid blasted 10 during the 2013 season.
Yslava's home run also put her in good company. Home run No. 7 of the season equals the most home runs by a freshman since 2016 when Alyssa Heren led the Cougars in round trippers.
Lexi King recorded four more hits Saturday and extended her hitting streak to nine games. She is hitting .393 in OVC games.
Amber Storer also hit her third home run of the season in game one and is now fourth on the team in RBIs with 11.
The Cougars had 20 hits for the day against the Skyhawks but couldn't match UT Martin's offense that had seven players with multi-hit games for the day.
AUSTIN PEAY 3, EASTERN ILLINOIS 1; AUSTIN PEAY 4, EASTERN ILLINOIS 3
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Austin Peay State University's softball team rallied in the nightcap to sweep Eastern Illinois in an Ohio Valley Conference doubleheader, Saturday at Williams Field, as the Governors extended their current win streak to a season-long tying four straight games, with the 3-1 and 4-3 victories.
Austin Peay 3, Eastern Illinois 1
Austin Peay (23-20, 10-9 OVC) jumped out early in the opener versus Eastern Illinois (21-25, 6-13 OVC) with Lexi Osowski ripping a double off the fence in left field to score Bailey Shorter, who had walked, with the game's first run.
Brooke Pfefferle would follow with a single down the right field line, scoring Osowski, making it 2-0 Govs.
Those two runs turned out to be all the runs the Govs would need, as Harley Mullins (8-5) limited the Panthers to one unearned run – coming in the second inning -- on six hits and two walks.
The score would remain 2-1 until the top of the seventh, when the Govs would tack-on an insurance run.
Shorter would open the inning by drawing her second walk of the game, move to second when Osowski was hit by a pitch, to third on a long fly ball off the bat of Pfefferle and score on an infield out by Kylie Campbell.
Austin Peay 4, Eastern Illinois 3
Unlike the opening game of the day, the Govs struggled with its offense early, as they only managed one hit – a fourth-inning single by Shorter – over the first five innings, while the Panther build a three-run lead.
Things would change in a big way for the Govs in the top of the sixth, Morgan Zuege opening the inning with a single, but was erased on a fielder's choice ground ball by Megan Hodum.
Shorter would then follow with a single, bring up Osowski, who blasted a three-run homer into a 25-mile per hour wind over the left field fence to tie the game, 3-3.
The score would remain tied, 3-3, as the two teams moved into extra innings, with the Govs finally pushing across what turned out to be the game-winning run in the top of the ninth.
Kendyl Weinzapfel and Mea Clark would open the ninth with back-to-back singles, with Emily Harkleroad then drawing a walk to load the bases, with no outs.
That brough up Zuege, who lifted a fly ball into medium left field, with Weinzapfel tagging and scoring to give the Govs a 4-3 lead.
Mullins, the third Govs pitcher of the game made that run hold up as she picked up her second win of the day by holding the Panthers off the scoreboard in the bottom of the inning.
BELMONT 6, MOREHEAD STATE 0; BELMONT 7, MOREHEAD STATE 4
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Belmont University Softball defeated Morehead State in both contests today on a beautiful Tennessee day. Pitcher Emma Summers produced the first ever perfect game in Belmont Softball program history for a 6-0 win over the Golden Eagles. The second game the Bruins came out on top to secure a 7-4 win.
Game One:
Emma Summers pitched a perfect game, the first ever in program history helping her defense out immensely. Summers faced 21 batters while successfully striking out the first 10 batters she faced. Impressive in and of itself but Summers continued. She followed with an additional six strikeouts to post a 16 strikeout game. 13 of the 16 strikeouts the batters were swinging. Summer's has proved herself time and time again in the circle this season.
The other defensive plays made today were hard fought by the Bruins as they too wanted Summers to come away with a perfect game. The energy on the field when the last out was called was goosebump worthy, as it should be as history was made at E.S. Rose Park.
Offensively, the Bruins got the bats going in the second, three consecutive singles from Elison Ollinger, Audrey Lyle, and Baie Ensio. These singles were all shot right up the middle leaving the baserunners time to move on throws. Cheyenne Cavanaugh grounded out for an RBI. Green finished the inning off with a single to score another run. The Bruins ended the second up three.
Bottom of the fourth Cavanaugh ripped a solo homerun deep past centerfield, her third of the season to extend the lead.
The Bruins added an additional two runs to the perfect game to make it that much sweeter in the bottom of the sixth. Emily Cockrill scored on a single from Lyle. Ollinger scored on a ground out from Cavanaugh.
The Bruins raked in the win with six runs on 10 hits with 6 RBI.
Game Two:
The Golden Eagles put up a greater challenge in the second game of the day. After taking an extra batting practice on the soccer fields in between games Morehead State came ready to play.
Belmont went up early earning two runs in the first. Cavanagh was hit by a pitch advancing her to first, she then stole second, she's not sixteenth in the nation for stolen bases for nothing. In scoring position she was brought home by an Emma Barnes single. Abi Ledbetter at the plate posted her fifth double of the season to bring Barnes home.
The Golden Eagles did not counter until the top of the third, a three RBI double cleared the bases to bring in three runs for the Golden Eagles, the first and only lead they had on the Bruins all day.
Belmont quickly got after it in the bottom of the third to score two runs and take the lead back from Morehead State. An Emily Cockrill single brought home Barnes and Gabrielle Givers. Feeling confident, Cockrill attempted to steal second on the throw down to home but was called out on a great defensive play, 4-3.
Bottom of the sixth the Bruins added insurance to their lead. A Hallmark double straight down the left field line from Ollinger brought home both Givers and Ledbetter. A fantastic hit from Ollinger and her sixth double of the season. Lyle flew out to center field leaving Ollinger room to tag up and score, 7-3.
The Golden Eagles added an additional run in the top of the seventh but it was not enough and the Bruins secured the win. Belmont fought hard all day while continuing to prove that they are flat out good.