SATURDAY'S SCORES
Murray State 10, @Belmont 1
@Belmont 12, Murray State 5
Austin Peay 8, @Tennessee State 4
@Tennessee State 3, Austin Peay 1
@Southeast Missouri 13, Eastern Illinois 1
@Tennessee Tech 4, SIUE 0
MURRAY STATE 10, BELMONT 1; BELMONT 12, MURRAY STATE 5
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - A competitive day out at E.S. Rose Park the Bruins split the day with the Racers. Game one Murray State came out victorious 10-1 in six innings. Game two Belmont took the win on a 12-5 decision. With an even day tomorrow's game will decide the leader of the Ohio Valley Conference.
Game One
The Bruins were hungry to get on the board and that they did in the bottom of the first. Leadoff batter Cheyenne Cavanaugh reached first on a Racer's error. In true Cavanaugh fashion she added her twenty third stolen base to her name. Abi Ledbetter with a single brought Cavanaugh home to go up 1-0.
A scoreless second inning for both teams. Between the first and second inning Pitcher Emma Summers struck out four of the six batters swinging. The Racers took the lead in the third. Logan Braundmeier started the scoring for Murray State with a two RBI triple. On a Bruin fielding error the Racers scored an additional unearned run in the third, 4-1
The Racer's added insurance to their lead in the fourth and fifth. A double from Braundmeier scored a Racer run and a solo homerun from Gracie Osbron secured a 6-1 lead.
The Bruins were unsuccessful to turn their additional three hits into scoring plays this game. The Racer's capped the top of the sixth with a grand slam by Osbron 10-1 to run rule the Bruins.
Game Two
The Bruins did not let the first game of the day negatively impact the second, rather they did quite the opposite and put on a show at Rose Park.
The Racer's took the early lead in Game two scoring on a fielding error, 1-0.
Bottom of the second the Bruins got the bats going. The first two batters, Killian Roberts and Audrey Lyle were intentional at the plate both walking to earn their spot on base. Ellison Ollinger reached on a fielder's choice, moving Roberts to third but calling out Lyle. Ollinger stole second, on the throw Roberts scored to tie the game, 1-1. Baie Ensio singled, moving Ollinger to third. Cavanaugh grounded out, Ollinger's speed led her to score on the play, 2-1. Green ripped a single to score Ensio, 3-1.
Top of the fourth the Racer's added a run to lessen the deficit off of a double from Osbron, 4-2.
Bottom of the fourth Ensio reached on a Racer error and was brought home on a sacrifice fly from Cavanaugh, 5-2.
Fifth inning, Murray State countered trying to take back the game, a Sierra Gilmore single added a run to the Racer's total, 5-3. The Bruins added a lot of insurance in the fifth. Play of the day, Ollinger dropped a three RBI triple past the right fielder to begin the scoring in the fifth. The Bruins added an additional three runs both on singles. An Ensio single scored Ollinger. Ledbetter singled to score Ensio and Green, 10-3.
Murray State added two more in the sixth on a fielder's choice and a single, 10-5.
The Bruins also added two in the sixth to protect their lead over the Racer's. Green with a double sent deep into center field scored Ensio. Ledbetter flew out, Cavanuagh tagged up and raced her way home, 12-5.
The Bruins held the 12-5 score in the top of the seventh to finalize the win and split the day.
A lot of fantastic hitting, smart plays, and agile base running was seen at E.S. Rose Park today. Join us tomorrow at 1 p.m. CT for the series finale between the Bruins and the Racers.
AUSTIN PEAY 8, TENNESSEE STATE 4; TENNESSEE STATE 3, AUSTIN PEAY 1
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Recap coming soon.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 13, EASTERN ILLINOIS 1
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Paige Halliwill went 2-for-3 with three runs, a home run, three RBI and made a highlight-reel catch in center field to lead Southeast Missouri (18-13, 7-3) to a dominating 13-1 win over Eastern Illinois (21-18, 6-6) Saturday.
SEMO posted its third-straight five-inning win after scoring multiple times in every inning.
The Redhawks struck quickly with three runs in the bottom of the first inning and put up five more in the second.
Abigail Rickermann reached on a leadoff double that didn't leave the infield after shortstop Megan Burton lost the ball in the sun. Halliwill got on by way of a two-base error and Rickermann scored the game's first run. Halliwill touched home on a sacrifice fly by Kat Sackett and Kaylee Anderson scored on a two-out double by Aubrie Shore.
With a runner on in the home half of the second, Halliwill belted her sixth home run, a two-run shot to center. Anderson followed with a double and scored with the help of an error. Chelsy Pena then drove in Sackett and Shore on a two-out double to widen SEMO's lead to 8-1.
More production from the top of SEMO's lineup came in the third when leadoff hitter Rickermann singled, stole second and quickly scored on a base hit by Halliwill. Halliwill, who advanced to second on the throw, crossed home plate on an ensuing triple by Anderson to make it a 10-1 ballgame.
Still not finished, the Redhawks buried EIU for good with a pair of home runs in the bottom of the fourth. Shore clubbed her fifth homer of the season, a two-run shot, over the left field wall. Two hitters later, nine-hole hitter Kynzie Wrigley slammed a solo home run to right.
In addition to what she did at the plate, Halliwill played excellent defense particularly in the top of the fourth when she crashed into the fence and made an outstanding catch to rob Kendall Fields of an extra base hit.
Rachel Rook (11-6) picked up the win in the circle. Rook tossed a one-hitter with two strikeouts in five innings.
Alexa Rehmeier (10-5) took the loss for EIU. Rehmeier was roughed up for six runs on four hits and walked three in just 1.1 innings.
SEMO outhit the Panthers, 13-1.
Rickermann, Halliwill and Anderson did the most damage out of the top three spots in the Redhawks lineup. The trio combined for six hits, eight runs and four RBI. Shore and Pena also contributed two hits each.
SEMO, which has won four in a row, wraps up its series against EIU with a 12 p.m., CT doubleheader Sunday.
TENNESSEE TECH 4, SIUE 0
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Alyssa Arden put together a strong outing on Saturday as she collected her 12th win and second complete-game shutout, fanning a season-high eight batters as Tennessee Tech collected a 4-0 victory over the visiting SIUE Cougars.
Tech improves to 24-11 on the season, 7-5 in the Ohio Valley Conference, while SIUE falls to 13-21, 5-7 in the league.
After the Golden Eagles struck for two runs in the bottom of the first, Arden and her SIUE counterpart, Lexi King, settled into a pitcher’s duel. King retired eight straight Golden Eagles to keep any more runs from scoring, but Tech broke the drought in the fifth.
Arden ended the game allowing four hits as she walked one and struck out eight for her 11th complete-game victory. King went five full frames, allowing four runs on five hits, walking four and striking out one. Sydney Baalman came on and pitched the sixth inning, walking one Golden Eagle batter.
After King retired the first two Golden Eagle batters in the bottom of the first, Haeli Bryson hit a ball over King’s head, but the pitcher climbed the ladder to knock it down. The throw to first dropped into the dirt and escaped the fielder, allowing Bryson to take second. Abby Buettner hit a single up the middle to drive in Bryson briefly as an unearned run that became earned as Sydney Love-Baker walked and Savannah Talley hit an RBI single to center field.
Tech ended up stranding eight in the contest, SIUE six, but the Golden Eagles added two crucial insurance runs in the fifth inning to give Arden some breathing room. Carmen Betts led off the inning with a single up the middle, then stole second. With two down, Love-Baker was hit by a pitch and Talley drew a walk to load the bases. Sydney Dukes dropped a single into center field, pushing Betts and Love-Baker home for the 4-0 lead.
SIUE threatened in the top of the seventh with two down. Pinch-hitter Grace Bretveld swung at strike three, but the ball skipped to the backstop and the pinch-hitter did her job to keep the game going. Micah Arps singled to short, but Arden coaxed a fly out to left to close out the game.