SATURDAY'S SCORES
*@Lindenwood 2, Morehead State 1
*@Lindenwood 2, Morehead State 0
*@SIUE 14, Western Illinois 0 (5)
*@SIUE 4, Western Illinois 2
*@Southeast Missouri 5, Tennessee Tech 3
*@Southeast Missouri 4, Tennessee Tech 1
*@UT Martin 6, Southern Indiana 5
*Southern Indiana 3, @UT Martin 1
*Tennessee State 5, @Eastern Illinois 1
*@Eastern Illinois 9, Tennessee State 7
LINDENWOOD 2, MOREHEAD STATE 1; LINDENWOOD 2, MOREHEAD STATE 0
ST. CHARLES, Mo. - Lindenwood softball (21-16, 9-6 OVC) extends their win streak to seven games after sweeping the series against Ohio Valley Conference opponent Morehead State (10-18, 4-11 OVC) with two more wins on Saturday. The Lions have now posted back-to-back OVC series sweeps.
Game one was a defensive battle at Lou Brock Sports Complex with the Lions picking up a 2-1 win securing the series victory. The Lions were limited to just two hits, but managed to limit the Eagles chances on offense.
Avery Wapp (W, 7-7) picked up the win after throwing a 10 strikeout complete game on the mound on her way to her seventh win of the season. Wapp allowed just one run on five hits while allowing two walks. Jessie Begley (L, 5-5) suffered the loss for Morehead State.
Amanda Weyh and Irelynn West were the lone Lions to pick up hits with Madisen Noll claiming the only RBI after a sac fly in the second inning.
Wapp started the game striking out two in the first inning keeping the Eagles off the scoreboard. Tori Hatton was walked to start the second inning and was moved over to third after a double to deep center field by West. Noll brought the first run of the game in after a sacrifice fly to center to score the game's first run.
Morehead State tied the game in the top of the fourth after an RBI single to center field by Ilencia Lightbody. Wapp then retired seven straight batters heading into the seventh inning of play.
Lindenwood regained the lead in the bottom of the fifth after an error by Morehead State. Dallis Darnell reached on an error to start the game and was moved over the third after a sac bunt and a fly out. Begley tossed a wild pitch which led to the go-ahead run by the Lions.
The Eagles put two runners on in the top of the seventh to threaten the lead but Wapp got Montoya Darlene to groundout to shortstop for the final out of the game and gave the Lions' their 20th win of the season.
Amanda Weyh (W, 13-6) pitched a gem in game three of the series posting her ninth complete game of the season and fifth solo shutout. She tossed seven innings allowing just two hits while striking out seven Eagles. Weyh also tied the program record in wins with 57 in her career.
Lindenwood added more at the offensive end in game two posting five hits including a triple by lead-off hitter Mya Bethany. Bethany went 1-3 in game two on Saturday while scoring two runs. Amanda Weyh also added two hits and a RBI for the Lions.
The Lions were able to start the game off hot with a run in the first inning after an RBI single by Weyh scored Bethany. Weyh was nearly perfect through the first four innings allowing just one walk in the process.
The Eagles did not get their first hit til the fifth inning with a short single to the pitchers mound. Lindenwood tacked on the final run of the game in the bottom half of the third inning after Bethany hit a triple to right center field and was brought home by a fielder's choice by Chloe Honchar.
Lindenwood closed out the game in the seventh with a groundout to second baseman Dallis Darnell as the Lions improve their OVC record to 9-6.
SIUE 14, WESTERN ILLINOIS 0 (5); SIUE 4, WESTERN ILLINOIS 2
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - SIUE softball swept a Saturday doubleheader, overpowering Western Illinois 14-0 in five innings during game one and 4-2 in the nightcap.
SIUE and Western Illinois both have a 14-23 overall record, but the Cougars now have a two-game lead in OVC play on Western Illinois at 6-9. WIU is 4-11.
Kelsey Ray allowed just one hit in game one and captured the win, her seventh of the season.
Reese Ray, appearing in her first collegiate game, threw the top of the fifth in the short game called due to the run rule. Reese Ray needed just four pitches for three outs in the fifth to end the game.
SIUE's offense was stellar in game one, posting nine runs in the first inning. The Cougars sent 14 batters to the plate. Paige Rocha, batting a second time in the inning, drove home three runs with a double. Grace Lueke also had a two-run single in the inning.
SIUE cruised on offense, adding two in third and three more in the fourth.
Rocha was 3 for 3 with five RBIs. Lueke, Anna Henderson, Lauryn Yslava and Emma Henderson each finished with two hits in the game. SIUE finished with 15 hits overall.
In game two, Kelsey Ray got the start once again. She went 3 1/3 innings before being replaced by Rylie Pindel, who garnered the win in relief.
Yslava provided the big hit for the Cougars in the fifth inning. Her hit to center field ended up near the wall. With Anna Henderson in front of her, Yslava touched them all after an errant outfield throw allowed her to score.
Rocha went 0 for 3 in game two. Her 29-game hitting streak ended at Cougar Field on the same day she was ceremoniously given the ball that broke the school record yesterday at 28 games.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 5, TENNESSEE TECH 3; SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 4, TENNESSEE TECH 1
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Abigail Rickermann had four hits and freshman Tegan Livesay threw a complete game with five strikeouts to lead Southeast Missouri (15-20, 9-5) to a 5-3, 4-1, doubleheader sweep of Tennessee Tech (15-16, 6-8) Saturday.
Rickermann tied a career-high three hits and scored two runs to key SEMO's game one victory.
Down, 3-2, after four innings, the Redhawks scored three times in the bottom of the fifth to come from behind and beat the Golde Eagles.
Rickermann led off the decisive fifth inning with a single to center and advanced to second on a Paige Halliwill walk. Marissa Peek followed with a single and Rickermann scored. Kynzie Wrigley later drew a bases loaded walk and Halliwill scored before pinch-runner Sophie Schupp touched home on a fielder's choice to put SEMO ahead, 5-3.
TTU threatened with the bases loaded in the top of the seventh, but Maddie Carney recorded back-to-back outs to end the game.
Carney (3-4) allowed just one hit in 2.1 scoreless innings to get her third win of the season.
Rickermann finished at 3-for-4 to pace SEMO, which outhit TTU, 8-7.
Livesay then went the distance allowing only one run on five hits in her second complete game of the year.
SEMO staked Livesay to an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning when Peek hit a two-run home run off the left field foul pole. For Peek, it was her team-high fifth round-tripper in 2024.
The Redhawks added another run on a RBI-single by Peek in the second and one more run on a Tatum Gerwitz double to left center to polish off their win in the bottom of the fifth.
Livesay improved to 2-3 in the circle.
SEMO registered 10 hits in the nightcap with Peek and Aubrie Shore paving the way with two hits apiece. Peek had three RBI, as well. Rickermann, Halliwill, Kat Sackett, Sydney Dennis, Gerwitz and Brittany Affolter followed close behind with one hit.
UT MARTIN 6, SOUTHERN INDIANA 5; SOUTHERN INDIANA 3, UT MARTIN 1
MARTIN, Tenn. - A big three-hit game by sophomore infielder Dylan Scott keyed a comeback victory for the University of Tennessee at Martin softball team, knocking off Ohio Valley Conference foe Southern Indiana in the first game of today's doubleheader by a final score of 6-5. Then in the weekend finale, USI claimed the series finale with a 3-1 victory.
The Skyhawks (21-17, 7-8 OVC) battled throughout the weekend as they faced a sizable first inning deficit in Game 2 before rattling off six unanswered runs down the stretch to secure their only win of the series. With the series all knotted up at one game apiece, the Screaming Eagles turned to their ace once again and pitched their way to a series victory to remain in second place in the league standings.
After an injury opened the door for Scott to make her first start in over a month, the sophomore made the most of her opportunity as she went 3-for-3 in Game 2 of the series while driving in three RBIs and scoring a pair of runs. Her two-run double in the fourth inning set up a big scoring frame before her RBI-single through the left side in the sixth inning tied the game.
While the surprise performance of the day came from Scott, senior outfielder Kaci Fuller continued her legendary career by tallying three hits on the day. With her three base knocks, she boosted her career hit total to 232 which ranks third in program history and sits just five hits behind the school's all-time record of 238 held by Jenny Bain. Meanwhile, fellow senior Anna Hazlewood also posted a multi-hit afternoon with singles in both contests.
On the pitching side, four different players got in the action for the home squad as Kiersten Nixon picked up her fourth win of the season in the opener of the twinbill after tossing a pair of shutout innings – while striking out five batters on the day. Sophomore Ashtyn Green also had a nice day in relief, allowing no earned runs in 4.1 innings in the series finale.
Southern Indiana (16-14, 10-5 OVC) relied on standout pitcher Josie Newman to pitch the team to another victory as she followed up her dominant performance on Friday with another 14-strikeout afternoon in the series finale. Offensively, Sammie Kihega came through with a clutch grand slam to highlight the first game of the day while Leix Fair broke the game open with a pair of RBIs in the finale.
TENNESSEE STATE 5, EASTERN ILLINOIS 1; EASTERN ILLINOIS 9, TENNESSEE STATE 7
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Eastern Illinois and Tennessee State both came up with clutch performances on Saturday as the teams split a doubleheader at Williams Field.
TSU won the opener 5-1 before EIU walked off the game two win 9-7 for the Saturday split.
EIU is now 24-12 overall, 10-4 in the OVC. TSU is 17-17 overall, 8-6 in the OVC.
Eastern Illinois scored in the bottom of the first inning but could not muster any additional offense against Tennessee State starter Caitlyn Manus as the Tigers won the opener 5-1.
Kendall Grover led off the game with a double to left and came around to score on a sacrifice fly by Jadin Justman. After that Manus allowed just two additional base runners on hits by McKenzie Oslanzi and Aryn Henke.
Manus (8-6) tossed the complete game with five strike outs and no walks issued.
TSU tied the game in the third taking advantage of a passed ball and throwing error on a stolen base to score an unearned run.
The Tigers tacked on three runs in the fourth and a single run in the fifth as Onnika Spencer hit a solo home run to right field.
In the fourth TSU took the lead on a sacrifice fly by Mikayla Duke. Spencer scored the next run on a steal of home on a double steal before Peyton Fointno drove in the final run in the inning.
Spencer was the lone player with multiple hits going 2-for-3.
Oslanzi (14-3) took the loss for EIU in the circle.
Rachel Kaufman hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning to walk off a win for Eastern Illinois with a home run for the second time this season in OVC play.
Kaufman hit a 2-run shot to straight away center scoring Jadin Justman who led off the bottom of the seventh with a single to left. Kaufman's home run carried EIU to the 9-7 win.
Tennessee State trailed 7-5 heading into the top of the seventh with Nahtali Simpson reaching with one out in the inning. Onnika Spencer then delivered her second home of the day to left center to tie the game at 7-7.
EIU jumped out early to a 4-0 lead in the first inning with Briana Gonzalez connecting for a two-run single to chase TSU's starting pitcher. Reina Castillo (4-5) entered in relief throwing 5.1 innings before taking the loss in the seventh.
TSU battled back to tie the game at 4-4 with two runs in the fourth and two in the fifth. Mikayla Duke had a two-run double in the fourth. Ryla Traylor had a two-run single to left with bases loaded in the fifth.
The Panthers responded with three runs in the bottom of the fifth and held the lead until the seventh. Aryn Henke had an RBI in the fifth for EIU and Gonzalez drove in her third run of the game.
Justman and Kaufman both finished with three hits to lead EIU. McKenzie Oslanzi (15-3) picked up the win in relief.
Jasmine Blackburn had three hits to lead TSU.