TUESDAY'S SCORES
@Lindenwood 7, Evansville 6
@Lindenwood 4, Evansville 3
@Southern Illinois 7
, Southeast Missouri 6
@Illinois 13,
SIUE 4
LINDENWOOD 7, EVANSVILLE 6; LINDENWOOD 4, EVANSVILLE 3
ST. CHARLES, Mo. - The Lindenwood softball team (11-17) picked up a pair of wins on Tuesday over Evansville (15-16), as the Lions took game one by a margin of 7-6 in eight innings, before winning the second game by a score of 4-3 at Lou Brock Sports Complex.
GAME 1 | Lindenwood 7, Evansville 6
The Lions needed eight innings to get the job done, but earned the 7-6 extra-innings win, walking it off on a single off the bat of sophomore Irelynn West to claim victory over the Evansville Purple Aces in the first game of the day.
Freshman Avery Wapp (2-4) picked up the victory out of the bullpen for Lindenwood. The right-hander went four innings, giving up one run on two hits, allowing two walks and striking out five.
West led the way offensively for the Lions, going 1-for-3 in the ballgame with two walks and three RBI. Freshman Tori Hatton put together a noteworthy performance at the plate as well, going 1-for-1 with two walks and an RBI. Sophomore Mya Bethany also helped out, going 0-for-2 for Lindenwood with two walks and an RBI.
Trailing 5-0, the Lions first put runs on the board in the fifth inning. Lindenwood's offense had a good inning, putting three runs on the scoreboard.
The Purple Aces expanded their lead to 6-3 before the Lions offense got back to work, tying it up in the sixth. Lindenwood's offense had a good inning, putting three runs on the scoreboard, which brought the score level at 6-6.
The game remained tied until the bottom of the eighth, when Lindenwood walked it off on an RBI single off the bat of West.
GAME 2 | Lindenwood 4, Evansville 3
Senior Keighlan Cronin was dominant on Tuesday, striking out 13 Evansville hitters over seven innings of work to help lead the Lions past the Purple Aces 4-3.
In addition to her 13 strikeouts, Cronin (3-6) went seven innings, giving up three runs, two earned, on five hits and walking three for Lindenwood.
Offensively, the Lions were paced by West, who went 1-for-2 on the day with a walk and an RBI. Bethany compiled a standout performance as well, going 1-for-2 with a double. Hatton also contributed for Lindenwood, putting together zero hits in one trip to the plate while adding two RBI.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Lions got the scoring started early, putting one run on the board in the bottom the first inning with the game still scoreless. Bethany came across to score the lone run of the inning for Lindenwood and get them on the board.
The Purple Aces then rallied to score three runs and take a 3-1 lead before the Lions got back on the board in the fifth. which brought the score to 4-3 in favor of the Lions. The score remained 4-3 for the rest of the game, as Lindenwood held on for the win.
Lindenwood will head to Morehead, Ky. on Saturday to start at three-game series with Morehead State begining at 12:00 p.m.
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 7, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 6
CARBONDALE, Ill. -Southeast Missouri (14-9) held a three-run lead heading into the bottom of the seventh inning, but Southern Illinois (24-5) scored four times in its final at-bat to pull off a 7-6 come-from-behind win Tuesday.
SIU's late rally was capped by a two-RBI walk-off double by Anna Carder with one out in the bottom of the seventh. The four-run inning came right after SEMO scored four runs in the sixth and another in the top of the seventh.
Down, 3-0, Aubrie Shore got the Redhawks on the board with a solo home run in the top half of the fourth inning. Shore's team-high fourth round-tripper of the season pulled SEMO within two.
Two innings later, SEMO took its first lead with the help of its big sixth inning. Sydney Melton and Alyson Tucker each walked. Aubrie Shore reached on a fielder's choice and Zoe Schulte pinch ran for her. Kynzie Wrigley walked to load the bases and Brittany Affolter followed with a double to left center scoring both Schulte and Melton to tie the game.
On the next play, Marissa Peek delivered a pinch-hit single to knock in Wrigley and Affolter putting the Redhawks ahead, 5-3.
SEMO tacked on one final run in the seventh when Melton singled to score Paige Halliwill pushing its lead to 6-3.
Emma Austin drew a leadoff walk to start the Salukis' turn in the seventh. Aubree DePron and Jackie Lis both singled, and Austin scored on Lis' hit. Rylie Hamilton reached on a fielder's choice giving SIU runners at first and third with one out. Elizabeth Harwick's single made it a one-run game before Crader stepped in to end the game.
Delaney Kell (7-4) suffered the loss in relief. Kell gave up four runs on five hits and walked two in 2.1 innings.
SEMO had eight hits with Affolter going 2-for-3 with a run scored and two RBI to lead the way. Halliwill, Melton, Shore, Peek, Sydney Dennis and Tatum Gerwitz added one hit each.
SIU's two-through-six hitters consisting of DePron (2), Lis (1), Hamilton (2), Warwick (2) and Crader (2) combined for nine of the Salukis' 11 hits.
SEMO and SIU met for the 97th time. The win improved the Salukis' home record to 14-0 this season. Neither SIU or SEMO (6-0) has lost a home game thus far.
The Redhawks return to Ohio Valley Conference play for a three-game series at Tennessee Tech this weekend.
ILLINOIS 13, SIUE 4
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Hayley Palm came off the bench in the fourth inning and provided a huge boost for SIUE softball with a three-run home run.
The Cougars, 10-19 overall, couldn't come back from a strong offensive start from Illinois, however. The Fighting Illini defeated the Cougars 13-4 in five innings.
Palm's home run was the first of her career in a Cougar uniform. It came with Piper Montgomery and Sherri Mason on base. SIUE added another run later in the inning when Rocha scored on one of Illinois' three errors.
SIUE collected eight hits and stranded seven runners. Rocha led the way with two hits as seven different players had a hit. Emma Neuman extended her hitting streak to seven games.
Sydney Baalman took the loss for the Cougars. Sydney Sickels was credited with the win for the Fighting Illini.
Illinois collected 13 hits in the game and scored in each of the first three innings. Four players for the Fighting Illini had two hits each,
SIUE continues on this road swing with a 2 p.m. doubleheader Thursday at Kansas City.