FRIDAY'S SCORES
*Lindenwood 3, @Tennessee Tech 1
*Lindenwood 4, @Tennessee Tech 3
*@Southern Indiana 2, Southeast Missouri 1
*Southeast Missouri 6, @Southern Indiana 0
*UT Martin 7, @Tennessee State 0
*@Tennessee State 9, UT Martin 8
*Eastern Illinois 10, @SIUE 4
*Morehead State 10, @Western Illinois 2 (6)
LINDENWOOD 3, TENNESSEE TECH 1; LINDENWOOD 4, TENNESSEE TECH 3
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - The Lions from Lindenwood softball (16-16, 5-6 OVC) picked up two wins on Friday against the Golden Eagles of Tennessee Tech (15-13, 6-5 OVC). Amanda Weyh earned both victories on the mound for the Lions while adding a home run and a triple.
Lindenwood started Friday's action with a 3-1 win over Tech after an impressive outing from Amanda Weyh (W, 10-7) on the mound. Weyh went 5.2 innings pitched allowing four hits and one run with two strikeouts. Weyh also went 2-3 at the plate with her second home run of the season.
Avery Wapp (S, 2) finished off the Golden Eagles in the six and seventh innings throwing 1.1 innings allowing just a lone hit and struck out two. The tandem of Weyh and Wapp combined to allow just five hits in game one.
At the plate, four Lions had multiple hits including Weyh. Mya Bethany went 2-2 with a double and a solo RBI. Chloe Honchar and Irelynn West also had two hits each. The Lions finished with eight hits while scoring three runs and only struck out once as a team.
After a defensive struggle through the first two innings, Bethany opened up the scoring the third after an RBI double which scored West. Weyh then followed that with a solo home run in the fourth inning to put the Lions in front 2-0.
Tennessee Tech cut the lead to one run in the bottom of the sixth after a double by Betts. West extended the lead for the Lions in the seventh after a ground-rule double to bring home Honchar. Wapp shut down TTU in the seventh to secure the first win on Friday.
Weyh (W, 11-7) picked up her second win of the afternoon in game two in Cookeville, Tenn. after throwing the final two innings of the game. Weyh did not allow a singe hit in those two innings and struck out four of the six batters she faced.
Wapp started the game for Lindenwood picking up a no decision in the process. She threw five innings allowing eight hits and three runs, but struck out seven Golden Eagles. Wagner picked up the loss for TTU.
Lindenwood had seven hits in game two including two extra base hits from West and a triple from Weyh. Honchar and West both had multiple hits for the second game in a row.
Tennessee Tech took an early lead in the first inning of the ball game after an RBI double by Buettner. Betts followed that with a double of her own in the bottom of the third to put TTU up 2-0.
Weyh responded at the plate in game two with a fielder's choice which brought home Honchar for Lindenwood's first run of game two. West followed that with a double to right center field in the fourth inning to bring home Weyh and tied the game.
Tech would regain the lead in the bottom of the fifth inning with a solo home run by Betts to go up 3-2. Tori Hatton then tied the game in the sixth with an RBI fielder's choice bunt to score Gerber.
West put Lindenwood on top in the seventh with her second RBI of the game with a single up the middle to score Weyh. Weyh then shut down TTU in the bottom of the seventh to secure the double header sweep for the Lions.
SOUTHERN INDIANA 2, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 1; SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 6, SOUTHERN INDIANA 0
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - University of Southern Indiana Softball split a pair of games against Southeast Missouri State University on Friday at USI Softball Field, as the Screaming Eagles took game 1 by a score of 2-1 before falling in game 2 to the Redhawks, 6-0.
Following Friday's doubleheader, Southern Indiana (13-13) and Southeast Missouri (12-19) remained tied for second place in the Ohio Valley Conference standings with a 7-4 conference record.
Offense came at a premium in the afternoon's first game Friday. After junior pitcher Josie Newman (Indianapolis, Indiana) struck out the side in the top of the second and third innings, Southern Indiana produced some run support in the home half of the third frame. The Screaming Eagles loaded the bases before USI's all-time hit-by-pitch leader, senior first baseman Lexi Fair (Greenwood, Indiana), was hit by a pitch to score a run. One batter later, senior catcher Sammie Kihega (Greenfield, Indiana) singled to right field to give USI a 2-0 lead through three innings.
SEMO got a run back on a two-out RBI double in the top of the fifth inning. The Redhawks threatened with the potential tying run coming home from second on a single, but USI left fielder Kennedy Nalley (Huntingburg, Indiana) threw a dart to Kihega, who made the swipe tag for the last out of the inning. USI kept a 2-1 lead going to the sixth.
Even though Southeast Missouri did not go quietly in the seventh with a couple of baserunners, Newman and the Screaming Eagles sealed the deal with a game 1 victory.
SEMO scored one run on six hits, while USI tallied two runs off seven hits. Senior outfielder Mackenzie Bedrick (Brownsburg, Indiana) went 2-3 with a run and Kihega was 2-3 with an RBI.
Newman improved to 11-5 in the pitching circle with her 16th complete game of the season. The right-hander allowed just one run and struck out 10 batters. Newman's counterpart, senior pitcher Paytience Holman for SEMO, moved to 7-7 with the loss after giving up two runs – one earned – in three innings pitched.
In game two, Southeast Missouri scored first with a run in the first inning. The Redhawks later built their lead up to 4-0 with three runs in the top of the third on a pair of RBI knocks and a bases-loaded walk.
After a clean fourth inning for USI sophomore pitcher Raegan Gibson (Louisville, Kentucky), SEMO tacked on two more runs in the fifth inning to increase its lead to 6-0.
Junior pitcher Whitley Hunter (Nashville, Illinois) took over for Gibson in the last two innings, as USI looked to rally at the plate. Despite solid contact late in the contest, Southern Indiana had nothing to show for it with Southeast Missouri closing out the game 2 victory to force a rubber match in Saturday's series finale.
SEMO posted six runs on nine hits, while USI had four hits. The top four players in the batting order for USI were responsible for three of the four hits.
Gibson was dealt the loss, moving to 0-3 this season, after five innings of work in her third start of the season. SEMO freshman pitcher Maddie Carney went to 2-4 on the campaign, hurling six shutout innings.
UT MARTIN 7, TENNESSEE STATE 0; TENNESSEE STATE 9, UT MARTIN 8
NASHVILLE - The Tennessee State softball took down UT Martin in dramatic fashion in game two of Friday's doubleheader as Anayah Baker-Rowell hit a walk-off single that pushed two runs across to help TSU earn a split on the day. The Tigers dropped game one 7-0 while picking up the 9-8 win in game two to move to 16-15, 6-4.
Two UTM pitchers combined throw a shutout in game one on Friday as the Martin Skyhawks blanked TSU 7-0 in the opener.
Reina Castillo (4-4) started and took the loss in the circle for the Tigers. Holly Ayala was a bright spot out of the bullpen, going seven innings, surrendering three runs, one earned, on six hits, walking one and striking out three.
Offensively, the Tigers were paced by Laila Armstrong, who went 1-for-2 on the day with a walk.
Tennessee State managed zero chances with runners on third in the shutout, going a total of 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position. The Tigers last got a runner on third in the fifth, when Onnika Spencer made it 60 feet away from scoring with one out.
TSU earned a win in walk-off fashion, responding to score three in the bottom of the seventh after UT Martin took the lead in the top half, sealing the victory on a two-run single off the bat of Baker-Rowell to take down the Skyhawks 9-8 in game two.
Ayala (4-5) got the win out of the bullpen for Tennessee State (15-15, 6-4). The right-hander went 0.1 shutout innings without giving up a hit.
At the plate, the Tigers were led by Mikayla Duke, who went 2-for-3 on the day with a double and two RBI. Ryla Traylor compiled a noteworthy day at the plate as well, going 3-for-4 with an RBI. Baker-Rowell also contributed for Tennessee State, putting together two hits in four trips to the plate while adding two RBI.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 10, SIUE 4
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Jadin Justman and Kendall Grover hit home runs in the third and fourth inning as Eastern Illinois jumped out a 6-0 lead before finishing with a 10-4 win over SIUE in game one of a weekend OVC series.
Justman and Grover were two of the six Panthers that finished with multiple hits in the game and two of three EIU players with multiple RBI.
Justman was 2-for-3 with three RBI driving in a run in the first on a sacrifice fly, a solo homer in the third and an RBI double in the seventh.
Earlier in the third McKenzie Oslanzi had a two-run single before later adding an RBI single in the seventh. The Panthers pitcher was 2-for-4 with three RBI at the plate. In the circle Oslanzi won her 14th game of the season with a complete game allowing four runs with two of them earned.
The Cougars had one unearned run in the fourth and another in the sixth that closed the EIU lead at the time to 7-3. Anna Henderson had an RBI double earlier in the sixth while Jenna Herron had an RBI double in the seventh scoring Paige Rocha. Rocha had two hits to extend her NCAA leading consecutive game hit streak to 25.
Grover was 2-for-4 hitting her sixth home run of the season in the fourth with a two-run shot that put EIU in front 6-0 at the time. Marama Makea was 3-for-4 for the Panthers. Rachel Kaufman and Karson Davey both added two hits.
Kelsey Ray (6-5) took the loss for SIUE pitching into the fourth.
MOREHEAD STATE 10, WESTERN ILLINOIS 2 (6)
MACOMB, Ill. - The Morehead State Eagles took a 3-0 lead in the first inning and never trailed from there on the way to a 10-2 six-inning win over the Western Illinois Leathernecks on Friday. The victory snapped a seven-game road skid and marked the first time MSU defeated an opponent by the eight-run rule since toppling Lindenwood, also in six innings, on April 2, 2023.
The Eagles scored three runs in three different innings to pull away to the victory.
Freshman Addie Stem (5-9) got the win for Morehead State (9-14, 3-7). The right-hander went the distance, giving up two runs, both of them earned, on eight hits, allowing four walks and striking out a team season-high seven.
Offensively, the Eagles were led by senior Kaytlyn Cripps, who went 2-for-4 on the day with a double and three RBI. Freshman Sela Pickford put together a noteworthy effort as well, going 3-for-4 with a double and two RBI. Senior Peyton Jordan also helped out for Morehead State, putting together one hit in four trips to the plate while adding a triple and two RBI. Freshman Kendra Lewis also contributed finishing 2-for-2, with two walks and three runs scored.
Offense was the main story. In total, seven Eagles had at least one hit, while six scored and four had RBI. The team's 11 hits ties its season high and extended MSU's total over its last four games to 36. It also marked the 15th time in 23 games that the Blue and Gold had at least six hits. The 10 runs were the most for the squad since scoring 11 in the season opener against Valparaiso.
Lewis talked about the club's offense.
The Eagles were successful in all three phases of the game, something head coach Megan Griffith pointed out.
The Eagles got on the board immediately, starting their scoring with one run in the top of the first inning.
The Leathernecks failed to push any runs across before the Eagles built on their lead in the third inning. Morehead State scored once on an RBI single off the bat of Pickford, which brought the score to 4-0 in favor of the Eagles.
Morehead State kept Western Illinois scoreless before building their lead to 7-0 the following inning. The Eagles notched three runs in the frame, two of them coming across on a two-run single off the bat of Cripps.
The Leathernecks gained ground, closing the gap to 7-2 until Morehead State added some insurance in the sixth. The three-run frame for the Eagles was punctuated by a two-run triple from Jordan, bringing the Morehead State advantage to 10-2. The score remained 10-2 for the rest of the game, as the Eagles coasted to the win.