Ohio Valley Conference

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Tennessee Tech made it a clean sweep on Sunday as Addison Abell and Emily York one-hit the Lions for the second straight day and the bats exploded for an 8-0, five-inning walkoff victory.

Abell (3-2) threw the first 3 2/3 innings to stay in line for the win, walking four and striking out one among her 15 batters faced. York (1 Sv) came on in relief to claim her first save of the season, entering when it was still a 1-0 contest. She pitched the final inning and a third, yielding the lone hit to Madisen Noll in the fifth.

Jailynn Paderez led Tech (9-18, 6-3 Ohio Valley Conference) at the plate as she went 3-for-4, driving in two runs, while Abbee Klinefelter also drove in two runs. Olivia Evans and Makayli Harris both went 2-for-3.

The first two innings were quiet as Harris' double to left stood as the only hit in the early going. Tech dented the dish in the second as Evans had a one-out single to left, then stole second and moved on to third on a throwing error. Sofia Carroll brought her home with a sacrifice fly.

The Golden Eagles ended Lindenwood starter Avery Wapp's day after Ella Bishop's double to right center, lifting her for Ryleigh Owens. Harris hit a grounder to third but the throw pulled the first baseman off the bag, putting runners at the corners.

After taking the first pitch for a strike, Ella Grace Harvey took three straight balls, watched strike two, then eyed ball four. However, the fourth ball was dropped, sending Bishop scrambling for home.

Now with runners at first and second as Alina Schlageter came in to run, Abbee Klinefelter ripped a double into left center to bring Harris and Schlageter across the plate. After a strikeout, Evans kept the inning going with a double to center field to drive in Klinefelter.

Evans moved over to third on Carroll's single to left, then Carroll swiped second with no resistance from the Lion battery. Paderez singled Evans in with a ball into right field, making it a 6-0 game through four innings.

In the fifth inning, Harris led off with a single, then moved over to second on a steal. Harvey singled to the right side to put runners at the corners, but moved over to second on Klinefelter's grounder to short.

Ella Wampler came in as a pinch hitter and dropped a single into center field, driving in Harris. With two down, Carroll drew a four-pitch walk to load the bases, then Paderez ended the game.

After fouling off the first pitch, Paderez placed one into right field with plenty of room to run. As Harvey touched home, enacting the run rule, Paderez was, by rule, held to a single and one RBI as the game ended at 8-0 with two out in the bottom of the fifth.

Wapp took the loss, allowing two runs – one earned – on four hits, walking one and striking out three over three complete frames. Owens went one-third of an inning, allowing four runs – three earned – on four hits with a walk and a strikeout. Halese Hays pitched one inning, allowing two runs on three hits with a strikeout, while Lucy Pratt officially only threw one-third of an inning, yielding one walk and one hit.

WESTERN ILLINOIS 4, MOREHEAD STATE 2
MACOMB, Ill. - The Western Illinois Softball team (8-17, 3-5 OVC) won its first conference series against Morehead State this weekend, taking game 3 by a score of 4-2. 

The Leathernecks and Eagles were all tied up at 0-0 going into the 5th inning before the Eagles struck first with a 2-run 5th when Sage Vandemark singled to center field to give Morehead State the lead.

Western Illinois responded in the 5th with Payton Brown and Sophia Sanchez both hitting RBI Singles to tie the score at 2-2. The Leathernecks continued the scoring into the 6th, where Kam Utendorf singled to left field to plate Raegan Boone. The Leathernecks received some run support in the form of an error to score Addie Mclaughlin putting the Leathernecks ahead 4-2. 

Libby Spaulding picked up the win on the mound, pitching 2.2 innings while only allowing 2 hits.

EASTERN ILLINOIS 6, SIUE 3
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Eastern Illinois won its tenth straight game as the Panthers improved to 9-0 in the Ohio Valley Conference following a 6-3 win on Sunday to sweep the weekend series at SIUE.

EIU improved to 15-16 overall, 9-0 in the OVC.  SIUE dropped to 13-17, 6-3 in the OVC.

Sophia Olman finished off a big weekend at the plate driving in three of the Panthers six runs in the game.  Olman drove in Alisha Frederick in the first with an RBI double.

SIUE tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the second as Aidyn Barrera drove home the Cougars run.

Abbi Hatton drove home the first of her two runs in the game in the third inning as the Panthers took control with three runs in the inning.  Olman drove in her second run of the game with an RBI single with Lexie Griffin driving in the final run of the frame.

Jesslyn Stairs brought SIUE within striking distance in the fourth with a two-run homer.

In the top of the seventh EIU tacked on two insurance runs for starting pitcher Rylan Gick (6-3).  Gick had two complete game wins and a save in the weekend series.  The insurance runs came with RBI by Hatton and Olman.

Olman, Hatton and Lizzie Stiverson all had two hits for EIU.

MaKayla Anderson (2-2) took the loss for SIUE.  Stairs had two of the five Cougars hits in the game.

UT MARTIN 11, TENNESSEE STATE 1
NASHVILLE - The University of Tennessee at Martin softball team swept its second consecutive Ohio Valley Conference series Sunday with a convincing 11-1 win over Tennessee State at Tiger Field in Nashville.
The Skyhawks put up three runs in the first inning with Karena Recrosio scoring on a Tennessee State error, Kyla Harley scoring on a sacrifice fly from Carly Ward and Avray Makarewicz belting her seventh home run of the year. UT Martin added another run in the fifth and then, for the third game in a row, had a monster final inning, scoring seven runs.

Natalie Kreuziger moved to 3-3 on the year after allowing just one run on five hits and striking out a career-high nine batters with no walks.

Ward went 4-for-4 in the game with a run, two RBIs and a sacrifice fly, while Makarewicz was 1-for-2 with two run, an RBI and two walks. As a team, the Skyhawks stole nine bases with Ward, Ashtyn Green, Kenney Brown and Kyrsten Brown each swiping two and Karena Recrosio stealing one.

With the win, UT Martin is now 19-13 on the season and 7-2 in OVC play. The Skyhawks are currently tied for second place in the OVC standings with Southern Indiana, two games back of first-place Eastern Illinois at 9-0.

SOUTHERN INDIANA 2, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 0
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 10, SOUTHERN INDIANA 5
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - University of Southern Indiana Softball claimed its third Ohio Valley Conference series win of the season on Sunday after splitting a doubleheader against Southeast Missouri State University at USI Softball Field, as the Screaming Eagles clinched the series with a 2-0 win before falling 10-5 in the series finale.
 
USI Softball (10-16, 7-2 OVC) sealed the series victory with its first shutout win of the season in Sunday's first game and the middle game of the series. Southeast Missouri (7-20, 3-5 OVC) snapped a seven-game losing streak after rallying back to win the series finale.
 
Offense was at a premium in Sunday's first game, but USI got on the scoreboard early with a first-inning run off an RBI double by junior infielder Sydney Long to score freshman outfielder Katelyn Marx.
 
The middle innings featured a pitcher's duel between USI freshman pitcher Anna Kemp and Southeast Missouri's left-handed hurler Willow Van Haren. However, the Screaming Eagles doubled their lead to 2-0 in the bottom of the fifth inning on an RBI single from Long that scored senior outfielder Caroline Stapleton.
 
The 2-0 USI advantage held for the rest of the contest, as Kemp handed the ball off to sophomore pitcher Kylie Witthaus for the final 1.2 innings.
 
The two sides combined for six hits in the opening game of Sunday's twin bill. Long led the way for USI with two hits and two RBIs.
 
In the pitching circle, Kemp (3-6) earned the win behind 5.1 shutout innings before Witthaus kept the shutout intact and tallied her third save of the season.
 
The Redhawks' Van Haren (1-6) went the distance and struck out four while allowing two runs and one earned.
 
Offense was also hard to come by at the start of game two on Sunday. SEMO's Maddie Carney and USI's freshman pitcher Elly Robbins threw up zeroes through four and a half innings.
 
The Eagles worked some quality at-bats in the bottom of the fifth and chased Carney in the middle of the frame. USI scored the first run on a bases-loaded walk by Marx as the fourth-straight one-out baserunner to reach. Despite a SEMO pitching change, the Screaming Eagles extended their 1-0 advantage to 4-0 off a hit-by-pitch, a sac fly, and a wild pitch.
 
However, Southeast Missouri responded in a big way in the top of the sixth inning. The Redhawks rallied with 10 runs on seven hits in the inning to surge ahead, 10-4. Even though USI got one run back on an RBI single by Stapleton in the sixth, Southeast Missouri held on for the win to avoid a series sweep.
 
The Redhawks finished with 13 hits, while USI totaled five. Stapleton led the Eagles with two hits in the contest. The top four of USI's batting order each registered an RBI.
 
Robbins wound up with a no-decision in the start for USI, going 5.1 innings and striking out three while giving up five runs and two earned. Witthaus (2-5), who came on in relief, suffered the loss with five runs – one earned – surrendered. Kemp threw the last 1.1 innings scoreless.
 
Southeast Missouri's Carney also took a no-decision, allowing five runs – all earned – in 6.1 innings of work with three strikeouts. Elliott Stinson (3-5) picked up the win in relief.