SUNDAY'S SCORES
*Eastern Illinois 8, @Morehead State 2
*SIUE 7, @Tennessee Tech 5
*UT Martin 5, @Lindenwood 1
*@Southern Indiana 8, Tennessee State 2
EASTERN ILLINOIS 8, MOREHEAD STATE 2
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Eastern Illinois softball closed out its final OVC road series sweeping Morehead State, 8-2, on Sunday afternoon.
McKenzie Oslanzi (20-4) picked up her 20th win of the season pitching four innings while Karlie McKenzie closed out the final three innings for her first save.
Following a run by Morehead State in the second, Eastern Illinois took a 3-1 lead in the third on RBI singles by Briana Gonzalez and Oslanzi. Those RBI singles were sandwiched around a sacrifice fly by Karson Davey.
Davey would go 2-for-3 at the plate for EIU while coming around to score two runs with one each in the fifth and sixth innings.
EIU had additional scoring on an RBI double by Rachel Kaufman in the fourth and three runs in the fifth. Sophia Olman, Marama Makea and Aryn Henke all drove in runs in the fifth.
EIU improved to 35-15 on the season, 19-5 in the OVC. The win secures at least one of the top two seeds in the upcoming OVC Tournament for the Panthers and an opening day bye.
Morehead State fell to 11-26 overall, 5-19 in the OVC with Jessie Begley (6-9) taking the loss.
The Eagles scored in the second on a home run by Samantha Cervantes. The final MSU run was driven in during the fifth by Peyton Jordan scoring Darlene Montoya who was 3-for-3.
Oslanzi and Kendall Grover joined Davey as EIU players with two hits in the game.
SIUE 7, TENNESSEE TECH 5
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - SIUE softball captured the final game of a three-game series Sunday, besting Tennessee Tech 7-5 at Tech Softball Field.
SIUE scored five runs in the top of the sixth inning. Grace Lueke's two-run doubles and Anna Henderson's two-run home run highlighted the Cougars' big inning.
Sydney Baalman collected the win for the Cougars while Kelsey Ray picked up the final four outs for her first save of the season.
The Cougars had plenty of offense with 10 hits, including two each from Paige Rocha, Jenny Herron, Lueke and Emma Henderson.
Rocha now has 71 hits for the season, three short of her Division I-era best 74 last season. She is the only player in the Division I era to record 70 or more hits in back-to-back seasons and only the third to have 70 or more twice in the history of the program. The other two are Jenny Esker and Erin Newman.
UT MARTIN 5, LINDENWOOD 1
ST. CHARLES, Mo. - The University of Tennessee at Martin softball team went on the road and claimed its sixth series victory of the season to move up the Ohio Valley Conference standings after knocking off Lindenwood in the series finale with a 5-1 decision.
The Skyhawks (28-20, 13-11 OVC) tallied eight hits in the victory while scraping across five runs as the team never trailed in the contest. On the pitching side, UT Martin struck out just one batter but scattered four hits and allowed one unearned run.
With a veteran group leading the way, Skyhawk seniors Kaci Fuller and Maddi Long paced the team with two-hit performances. Along with her two base knocks, Long joined fellow senior Katie Dreiling by driving in a pair of runs in the victory.
The pitching staff was headlined by senior Kiersten Nixon who tallied her seventh win of the season after allowing zero earned runs in five frames. She was relieved by Dreiling gave up just one base knock and issued no walks in two scoreless innings.
UT Martin wasted no time jumping on the board with two runs in the top of the first inning. Back-to-back hits by Kennedy Brown and Avry Blume sent up the scoring chance before Long laced a two-run double into the left-center gap to give the visitors an early advantage.
The score remained the same until Lindenwood got in the run column in the bottom of the fourth. A dropped foul ball error came around to hurt the Skyhawks as the play was followed by a hit by pitch and a double by Tori Hatton to cut the home team's deficit in half.
After the defensive miscue led to a run in the fourth, the Skyhawks answered right back in the top of the fifth. A single by Fuller kicked off the frame before later trotting around the bases as Dreiling drilled a two-run home run to right field to make it a 4-1 contest.
The Skyhawks added one more run in the top of the sixth for some insurance as Alli Robinson walked before being replaced by pinch runner Kyla Harley. The speedy freshman wasted very little time before swiping second base to move into scoring position and ultimately coming home to score on an RBI-groundout by Fuller to record the game's final run.
SOUTHERN INDIANA 8, TENNESSEE STATE 2
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - University of Southern Indiana Softball closed its 2024 home schedule at USI Softball Field on Sunday by grabbing an 8-2 win over Tennessee State University, clinching its sixth Ohio Valley Conference series win, behind the leadership of the 2024 senior class for the Screaming Eagles.
In Southern Indiana's (20-19, 14-10 OVC) home half of the first inning, the USI seniors wasted no time making an immediate impact in Sunday's contest. Seniors Mackenzie Bedrick (Brownsburg, Indiana) and Lexi Fair (Greenwood, Indiana) joined sophomore Caroline Stapleton (Shirley, Indiana) in getting on board and loading the bases. Then senior Sammie Kihega (Greenfield, Indiana) lifted a pitch opposite field and over the right field fence for her second grand slam and fourth home run of the season to put USI up early, 4-0.
Tennessee State (24-22, 15-9 OVC) cut USI's lead in half, 4-2, following a sac fly in the third inning and another sac fly in the fourth frame. The Tigers threatened for more in the fourth, but USI junior pitcher Josie Newman (Indianapolis, Indiana) ended the threat and the inning with her 200th strikeout of the 2024 campaign.
Following a highlight diving catch by Bedrick in the top of the fifth, Kihega added to her day at the plate and to the USI lead with an RBI double to left field in the bottom of the fifth inning. Kihega's fifth RBI on the afternoon gave the Screaming Eagles a 5-2 advantage.
The Screaming Eagles posted extra insurance in the bottom of the sixth inning when junior infielder Hailey Gotshall (Lucerne, Indiana) drove in junior outfielder Kennedy Nalley (Huntingburg, Indiana) with a bases-loaded RBI single. Fair followed with a sac fly to bring home Bedrick, and then Kihega put the icing on the series-clinching victory with an RBI single to increase USI's lead to 8-2.
Behind the offensive spark by the three seniors and the top of the batting lineup, Southern Indiana registered eight runs on 12 hits. Bedrick finished with two hits and two runs, while Fair had a hit, a run, and an RBI. Kihega went 3-3 with a run and a USI season-high six RBIs at the plate. Stapleton also recorded a three-hit day with three runs scored.
Newman picked up her 17th win of the season (17-8), holding Tennessee State to two runs – one earned – off four hits in the complete game. The right-hander struck out four in the contest.
Tennessee State junior pitcher Caitlyn Manus was charged with the loss, going to 11-11 this year. Manus pitched the first five innings, surrendering five runs off seven hits.
Not only did Sunday's win add to the senior day festivities recognizing Bedrick, Fair, and Kihega, but the victory also moved Southern Indiana into sole possession of fourth in the Ohio Valley Conference standings. USI has already solidified its conference postseason berth for the second consecutive season and can move as high as third with only one weekend remaining in the regular season. The 2024 OVC postseason field of eight is set, and the final weekend will determine the final seeding for the championship tournament.