FRIDAY'S SCORES
*@Lindenwood 6, Morehead State 1
*Southern Indiana 2, @UT Martin 0
*Western Illinois 3, @SIUE 0
LINDENWOOD 6, MOREHEAD STATE 1
ST. CHARLES, Mo. - Lindenwood softball (19-16, 7-6 OVC) took game one of a three-game series on Friday after defeating Morehead State (10-16, 4-9 OVC) by a final score of 6-1 at Lou Brock Sports Complex. The Lions improve to 9-3 at home this season and are on a five-game win streak.
Amanda Weyh (W, 12-6) collected her 500th strikeout in her career at Lindenwood against Morehead State and now sits at 506. Weyh pitched her eighth complete game of the season allowing just one unearned run on eight hits while striking out nine. She ranks second in the Ohio Valley Conference this season in strikeouts with 119.
Lindenwood scored six runs on Friday on seven hits with seven different players registering a hit. Mya Bethany went 1-3 at the leadoff spot with a run scored and two RBI. Weyh and Tori Hatton also had an RBI each in the win.
Morehead State got on the board in the first during the top of the first after an error led to a runner advancing home. The Eagles' starting pitcher Addie Stem (L, 5-11) struck out six batters in the first two innings, but the Lions managed to tie the game in the second after an RBI single by Hatton to score Bethany from second.
Lindenwood's offense did not slow down there as they would score three runs on three hits in the third pushing them ahead 4-1. After three Lions reached base safely to start the inning, Bethany and Chloe Honchar both scored after a wild pitch and an error. Weyh then added her RBI single later on to push across the last run.
With the bases loaded again in the bottom of the fourth, Bethany delivered a line drive up the middle to bring home Madisen Noll and Dallis Darnell to extend the lead to 6-1. Weyh allowed just three hits spread across the final three innings to close the game and secure her 12th victory of the season.
SOUTHERN INDIANA 2, UT MARTIN 0
MARTIN, Tenn. - University of Southern Indiana Softball opened a three-game road series at the University of Tennessee at Martin on Friday with a 2-0 shutout victory behind the arm of junior starting pitcher Josie Newman (Indianapolis, Indiana), who matched a career mark of 17 strikeouts against the Skyhawks.
With the victory, Southern Indiana improved to 15-13 overall and 9-4 in the Ohio Valley Conference. With first-place Eastern Illinois University not in action on Friday, the Screaming Eagles head into Saturday's slate of games within a half-game of the Panthers. UT Martin moved to 20-16 this season and 6-7 within the OVC.
Both starting pitchers were dialed in early, shutting down the offenses. Southern Indiana's Newman and UT Martin senior pitcher Brooklyn Linneman matched each other in the circle in the early innings.
Southern Indiana got a runner into scoring position in the second inning after a pair of walks, but Linneman held the Screaming Eagles in check the rest of the inning.
Both teams were held hitless through four innings. USI recorded the game's first hit in the fifth inning off the bat of freshman infielder Alyssa Mumaw (Greenfield, Indiana). The Skyhawks also tallied their first hit in the bottom half of the fifth.
In the top of the sixth inning, the Screaming Eagles' offense broke through on the scoreboard. Senior first baseman Lexi Fair (Greenwood, Indiana) drove in the first run of the game on an RBI double. Senior catcher Sammie Kihega (Greenfield, Indiana) followed and made it a 2-0 lead for USI with an RBI single.
Newman continued to deal, striking out the side in innings four through six. It was only suiting that the right-hander finished the shutout win with a strikeout in the seventh inning.
For Newman, the 17 strikeouts matched her career high from March 2022 in an outing against Drury University. The 17 strikeouts were also the most that the UT Martin Softball program has ever incurred. The dominant start led to Newman's 13th win of the season. The Skyhawks could only muster three hits and one walk off Newman on Friday.
As a reclassifying program to NCAA Division I, USI does not qualify for the official NCAA statistical rankings, but Newman would rank second in the nation with 152 total strikeouts this season through Friday's action.
At the plate, USI plated its two runs with five hits from five different Screaming Eagles.
Newman's starting opposition, Linneman from UT Martin, dropped to 7-4 on the season with the loss. Linneman tossed the first six frames, allowing two runs with three strikeouts.
WESTERN ILLINOIS 3, SIUE 0
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Friday marked the start of a new conference series, with Western Illinois traveling south to SIUE for the first time as OVC members. Emily Price, one of the league's top pitchers, showed up and shut out the Cougars for the Leathernecks' fourth conference triumph of the year, and Price's seventh win in 2024.
The Western offense started the day with a scoreless first frame, with senior Bella Alvarez getting plunked for the Purple and Gold's first baserunner. In the bottom of the frame, Price struck out the first batter she saw and got through the inning with no trouble.
In the second, freshman catcher Valerie Combs reached on a dropped third strike and then stole her fifth base of the year. An unfortunate double play ended the inning with no runs for Western. A leadoff single and error in the bottom of the frame saw the Cougars threaten to score, but Price got out of the jam on a groundball.
After the Leathernecks went down in order in the third, Price allowed a single but nothing more to keep the score knotted at zero. Rylee Boone led off the fourth with a single and walks from Alvarez and Maria Luna loaded the bases. Western took a 1-0 lead when Sophia Sanchez drew a lead-taking walk. Price went on to keep the Cougars at zero, striking out one and stranding two in the fourth.
Boone got her second hit of the game in the fifth, singling while Alvarez reached base safely for the third time with a walk. Western stranded two in the frame, but Price kept rolling with a scoreless fifth. A walk from Sanchez and a single from Beth Pavy gave the Leathernecks a key scoring opportunity in the sixth, and Megan Leonard came up huge with a double into right-center field, which scored the pair of baserunners. Western exited the inning with a 3-0 lead, and Price ensured that Western remained in front. With a runner on third and one out, the senior struck out the final two batters of the inning, slamming the door on SIUE. In the seventh, Price fanned her seventh batter of the game in another scoreless inning, grabbing a key conference victory.
The Leathernecks, Cougars, and Morehead State now stand tied for eighth in the conference, all with a 4-9 record heading into tomorrow's games.