Ohio Valley Conference

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - The Tennessee State softball team opened OVC play with a doubleheader split against Tennessee Tech, winning Game 1, 3-0, before falling 6-3 in Saturday's finale.

Reina Castillo was dealing on Saturday, hurling a three-hit shutout to lead the Tennessee State Tigers over the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles 3-0.

Castillo (8-3) went the distance for Tennessee State (9-6, 1-1), giving up three hits, walking two and striking out one.

In the batter's box, the Tigers were led by Hailey Hunt, who went 2-for-3 on the day with a walk and an RBI. Onnika Spencer furnished a standout day at the dish as well, going 1-for-2 with a double and two walks. Jace Jackson also helped out for Tennessee State, putting together two hits in five trips to the plate.

The Tigers took the lead for good in the third, scoring for the first and only time in the inning.

The Tigers put together a valiant effort on Saturday, but ultimately came up short, losing to the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles by the score of 6-3.

Tianna Salcido (1-3) got the ball to start for Tennessee State (9-7, ) and took the loss. Kristian Holder was a bright spot for the Tigers, coming out of the bullpen and throwing 2.1 shutout innings, allowing one hit.

Offensively, the Tigers were led by Kailyn Jean-Baptiste, who went 1-for-2 on the day with a walk and two RBI. Anayah Baker-Rowell furnished a standout performance at the dish as well, going 2-for-4 with an RBI. Mikayla Duke also chipped in for Tennessee State, putting together two hits in three trips to the plate while adding a walk.

Trailing 3-0, the Tigers first put runs on the board in the fourth inning. Jean-Baptiste drove in two runs for Tennessee State with a single, that scored Baker-Rowell and Alexis Woods.

The Golden Eagles expanded their lead to 6-2 before the Tigers offense got back to work, cutting into that lead in the seventh. Tennessee State scored once on an RBI single off the bat of Baker-Rowell, which tightened the Golden Eagles lead to 6-3. The ballgame ended with that seventh inning rally falling short..

WESTERN ILLINOIS 4, SOUTHERN INDIANA 2
SOUTHERN INDIANA 3, WESTERN ILLINOIS 2
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - University of Southern Indiana Softball hosted Western Illinois University in a doubleheader on Saturday to open the Screaming Eagles' 2025 home schedule and Ohio Valley Conference play. The two sides split the two games, as USI bounced back from a 4-2 setback in the series opener and captured a 3-2 victory in the back end of Saturday's twin bill.
 
In game one, Western Illinois (5-13, 1-1 OVC) opened the scoring with a solo home run in the top of the first inning. Southern Indiana (4-12, 1-1 OVC) answered with a tying run on an RBI knock by senior outfielder Kennedy Nalley.
 
USI grabbed a 2-1 advantage on a sac fly by senior third baseman Whitley Hunter in the home half of the fourth, but Western Illinois answered with two runs on a double in the top of the fifth inning to take a 3-2 lead. Western Illinois tacked on an additional run in the seventh to seal the 4-2 result.
 
Despite the Leathernecks scattering some hits off of senior pitcher Josie Newman (3-6) in the early innings, the right-hander fanned 11 total batters. Newman struck out the side in the first inning to move into second on USI's career strikeouts list. The senior pitched all seven innings.
 
USI recorded three hits with one hit apiece for the top three in the batting order.
 
For Western Illinois, freshman pitcher Libby Spaulding (1-2) was credited the win in middle relief, giving up one run in two innings pitched. Sophomore pitcher Lillie Wools picked up the save, tossing the last three innings scoreless. Freshman starting pitcher Kaitlyn Green took a no-decision in two innings of work.
 
In the second game, Western Illinois led 1-0 after a first-inning run, but Southern Indiana tied the game in the bottom of the third on a bases-loaded, pinch-hit RBI single by freshman Grace Huffman.
 
The game remained tied until the home half of the sixth when Hunter, who doubled to lead off the inning, came home to score on a wild pitch and give USI a 2-1 advantage. Later in the inning, junior outfielder Caroline Stapleton added an insurance run with an RBI single to put USI up 3-1.
 
Freshman pitcher Kylie Witthaus was in the process of a strong start after holding Western Illinois scoreless since the first-inning run. However, Witthaus ran into a tense situation in the top of the seventh after a pair of walks and a sacrifice got runners into second and third with one out. The Leathernecks got a run back on a sac fly to pull within one, 3-2, but with two outs on the board. Unfazed, Witthaus induced a final groundball out to close out the USI victory.
 
Witthaus (1-5) recorded her first career win in the complete game. The left-hander struck out three and gave up only two runs – one earned. At the plate, Hunter had two of USI's six hits. Sophomore designated player Alyssa Mumaw had a hit, two walks, and scored two runs.
 
The Leathernecks mustered only four hits off Witthaus. Wools (2-4) bookended the game for Western Illinois, totaling four innings of work and three runs allowed in being charged with the loss.

SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 1, UT MARTIN 0 (10)
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 6, UT MARTIN 1
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Southeast Missouri (8-7, 2-0) wins both doubleheader games against UT Martin (8-11, 0-2) Saturday. The Redhawks won 1-0 in game one and won the second game 6-1.

Both the Redhawks and Skyhawks couldn't put up a single run in regulation in game 1.

With the score tied 0-0 headed into the bottom of the10th Sydney Dennis doubled as the first batter. Brooklyn Saysoff stepped up and singled to right field, pushing Sydney Dennis home ending game one.

Delaney Kell (3-1) tossed her third win of the season allowing just one hit and struck out six batters in five innings pitched.

Ashtyn Green (5-1) took her first loss of the season while pitching the entire game. She gave up 13 hits and struck out four.

SEMO finished with 13 hits, their second best outing in a game this season. Dennis led the way with three hits going 3-5. Saysoff, Gracie Luna, Brittany Affolter, and Sydney Melton each added two hits.

In game two the Redhawks got off to a hot start scoring four of their six runs in the first half of the game.

Tegan Livesay got the win with four strikeouts, six hits allowed, and only one run. Livesay is now 2-1 on the season. The Skyhawks picture Rylee Tittle got the loss. She is now 2-5 this year.

UT Martin scored the first and their only run in the first inning. Kyla Harley scored from a hit by Alli Robinson. 

Sydney Dennis got the Redhawks on the board in the bottom of the first off of a Brooklyn Saysoff double to center field. Saysoff then scored to give SEMO a 2-1 lead after Sydney Melton singled right to second base.

Dennis then drove in Kinley Wilkins off of a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the second. Melton hit the only home run of the day over the left fence in the third inning to make the score 4-1.

The Redhawks final two runs came in the fourth inning. Saysoff doubled to the right center and Dennis scored her second run of the game. One batter later, Gracie Luna singled to the shortstop and drove in Saysoff.

SIUE 9, MOREHEAD STATE 5
MOREHEAD, Ky. - SIUE softball opened the 2025 Ohio Valley Conference regular season on a high note Saturday with a 9-5 road victory over Morehead State.

The two teams will play a Sunday doubleheader to decide the three-game series. Game time for game one is 11 a.m. CT.

SIUE improved to 8-9 overall while Morehead State fell to 1-19 in what was both teams' OVC opener.

Morehead State jumped out to an early lead with four runs in the first innings. Kiana Villa would replace Avery Arwood in the circle for the Cougars and went 6 2/3 innings before Emma Henderson recorded the final out with a strikeout for her first save of the season.

Down 4-0, SIUE responded in kind in the top of the second inning.

The Cougars used two Morehead State errors, an RBI single by Lauryn Yslava and a wild pitch by Morehead State pitcher Rylie Burney to tie the score 4-4.

While Morehead State regained the lead 5-4 in the bottom of the third, SIUE would take the lead for good in the top of the fifth.

Emma Henderson singled home Piper Montgomery with a base hit to center field. Henderson would later score on another wild pitch from Burney.

Clinging to a 6-5 lead, Danielle Shuey virtually put the game out of reach for the Cougars with a three-run homer to right center field in the top of the seventh. Shuey's first home run as a Cougar drove home Kaylin Fahy and Raegan Duncan.

SIUE was outhit 10-9 in the contest. Yslava and Kaylynn Salyars led the Cougars with two hits each. The Cougars also were active on the basepaths with four stolen bases.

EASTERN ILLINOIS 11, LINDENWOOD 0 (5)
LINDENWOOD 3, EASTERN ILLINOIS 2
ST. CHARLES, Mo. - Lindenwood softball (10-8, 1-1 OVC) split an Ohio Valley Conference double header on Saturday afternoon against Eastern Illinois (9-13, 1-1 OVC) at the Lou Brock Sports Complex. After losing 11-0 in game one, Lindenwood responded with a 3-2 win in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Lindenwood dropped their first game of OVC play to the Panthers of Eastern Illinois by a final score of 11-0. The Lions surrendered 13 hits on the afternoon while adding two errors. LU only have five hits in the loss.

Avery Wapp (L, 4-3) suffered the loss on the mound throwing 3.0 innings allowing five runs on six hits while striking out three. Samantha Roulanaitis and Molly Heidrick both surrendered three runs in their one inning a piece. McKenzie Oslazi picked up the win for EIU throwing all five innings.

Jolie McMinn went 2-2 at the plate for the Lions while Irelynn West, Teryn Brown and Dallis Darnell all added hits. EIU scored three runs in the first inning off of Wapp. After being blanked in the second, EIU scored two in the third, three in the fourth and three in the fifth in pick up the win.

The Lions responded in their second game winning by a final score of 3-2. Lindenwood walked off the game scoring a run in the seventh inning off an error by the Panthers. LU had just three hits in the win while EIU had four.

Ryleigh Owens (W, 4-2) pitched a complete game for the Lions throwing all 7.0 innings allow two runs on four hits with four strikeouts. Oslanzi threw the final 0.2 inning of the game allowing the winning run for the Lions on an error by the defense.

After Eastern Illinois scored one run in the top of the first, Lindenwood responded in the fourth inning with a West home run down the right field line. West went 2-3 in the game with two RBI. EIU again took the lead in the sixth inning after a solo home run by Kendall Grove.

Lindenwood responded with a run in the bottom half of the inning after West singled up the middle to score Brown. In the bottom of the seventh, after Hatton reached on a walk and Hanna Johanning pinch ran, the Lions scored on an error by Oslanzi to first base resulting in the run scoring.