Ohio Valley Conference

MOREHEAD, Ky. - Tennessee Tech's offense continued to shine on Sunday as the Golden Eagles completed their third straight Ohio Valley Conference sweep and their ninth conference win in a row as Tech topped Morehead State 10-3 and 7-3 at University Field.

With the victories, the Golden Eagles (12-19, 9-3 OVC) move into a tie for second place in the conference with five conference weekends remaining before the conference tournament in Peoria, Ill.

Eastern Illinois currently holds on to the top spot with a perfect 12-0 record, while UT Martin is tied with the Golden Eagles at 9-3. SIUE and Southern Indiana are tied for fourth at 7-5, while Southeast Missouri (6-5) is the last team in the league with a winning record in conference play.

Ashley Capelouto and Olivia Evans each went 3-for-4 in the day's start with Capelouto driving in three and Evans 1. Makayli Harris drove in two with a pair of sacrifice flies without collecting a hit in the game.

Jailynn Paderez powered the Golden Eagles in the second game, driving in four of Tech's seven runs as she went 4-for-4 at the plate with a home run, while Evans and Harris each went 2-for-4 in the nightcap with Harris driving in two.

Faith Rush went the distance in game one to pick up her first win of the season and her second career complete game. She allowed three runs – two earned – on seven hits as she walked three and struck out one.

Ainsley Stubbs took the loss, allowing seven runs – six earned – on eight hits in three innins, walking four and striking out two. Rylie Burney allowed three runs on five hits in two frames with two walks and a strikeout, while Emma Solis threw the final two innings, yielding one hit and a walk.

Morehead State struck first in the game as Sage VanDeMark scored the first run on a wild pitch, then a Sophie Collins RBI single made it 2-0 in favor of the hosts.

Tech wasted no time in the top of the second. After Abbee Klinefelter doubled to lead off the frame, Jayla Miller scored on Ella Bishop's bunt single back to the circle coupled with a fielding error.

Julie Martin singled, then a wild pitch moved Martin and Bishop, then Evans singled Bishop home to tie the game. An error allowed Evans to move to second as a muffed throw allowed Martin to give Tech the 3-2 lead. Paderez drove in the first of her runs with a single to left center to bring Evans home. Capelouto hit a single to move Paderez to third, then Harris' first sacrifice fly scored the Tech third baseman, putting Tech up 5-2.

Morehead scored its last run in the bottom of the third as Sophie Collins singled home Sydney Farmer.

In the Tech fourth, Paderez reached on a fielding error and her pinch runner, Skylar Gooden, stole second. Capelouto took the first two pitches for strikes, then unloaded as she launched a shot over the left center field wall for a two-run home run – her sixth round-tripper of the year.

Capelouto, in the fifth, drew a bases-loaded walk for another RBI, then Harris' second sac fly brought Sofia Carroll home. Klinefelter singled to left center to plate Paderez for what was Tech's 10th and final run.

In game two, Emily York also put on a complete game effort, allowing three runs – one earned – on seven hits, walking none and striking out five. Her counterpart, Allicen Harris, took the loss in the start, going 3 2/3 as she allowed six runs – four earned – on nine hits with two walks, while Stubbs worked the final 3 1/3, allowing one run on one hit with two walks and two strikeouts.

Neither team scored in the first two innings, but the Golden Eagles opened up the scoring with four runs in the top of the third. Paderez drove in Evans with a single to deep left, then Harris hit a two-run single to shallow left, bringing Carroll and Miller home. Klinefelter wrapped up the inning's tally with a sac fly to center field to score Capelouto.

Sela Pickford put MSU on the board with an RBI single in the third, but Tech got the run back and more as Carroll drew a two-out walk on four straight pitches, then Paderez loaded the count and blasted a shot over the left field wall for her first career home run, extending the Tech lead to 6-1.

Sophie Collins scored on Nyla Dolron's 4-3 grounder in the bottom of the fourth, then Sydney Farmer had an RBI double in the fifth to make it a 6-3 game. Paderez gave Tech its final run in the sixth inning as Paderez drove in Julie Martin from second with a base hit up the middle.

York continued to deal, yielding just one hit in the final two frames to close out the contest.

UT MARTIN 6, SIUE 4
MARTIN, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Martin softball team used home runs from Avary Makarewicz and Jordyn Hustey to top SIUE, 6-4, at Bettye Giles Field in Martin Sunday to give the Skyhawks the series win over the Cougars.

Makarewicz put the Skyhawks on the board in the first when she belted her eighth home run of the year to clear the bases and give her team a 3-0 lead. However, in the third, SIUE took a one-run lead on back-to-back plays with a two-RBI double from Regan Duncan and a two-run home run from Ashley Duran.

In the fifth, Jordyn Hustey tied the game with a leadoff home run, her fourth of the season. With two outs, Kyla Harley and Carly Ward hit back-to-back singles and then advanced to second and third, respectively, on a wild pitch.

In the next at-bat, Karena Recrosio snuck one through the left side to score Harley and give UT Martin the lead. The Cougars then walked Makarewicz and Kennedy Brown in back-to-back at-bats to score Ward to extend the lead to 6-4.

The Cougars had runners at first and second with two outs when Payton Harris entered the game and recorded the final out of the inning to get the Skyhawks out of the jam. In the seventh, Harris retired the Cougars to seal the win for UT Martin and earn her first save of the season.

Harley finished the game at a perfect 3-for-3 with a triple, a run and a walk to lead the Skyhawks in the game, while Hustey ended her day at 2-for-3 with a home run, an RBI and a run. Natalie Kreuziger got the win for UT Martin to improve to 5-4 on the year, after allowing no runs on four hits with no walks.

EASTERN ILLINOIS 7, WETSERN ILLINOIS 4
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Eastern Illinois jumped out early on Sunday afternoon as the Panther softball team won its 15th straight game with a 7-4 win over Western Illinois to sweep the weekend series at Williams Field.
 
EIU improved to 20-16 overall, 12-0 in the OVC as they now have posted their best conference start in school history.  WIU fell to 8-20 overall, 3-8 in the OVC.
 
For the third straight game WIU scored first as the Leathernecks scored an unearned run against EIU starter Bryanna French (7-4), the first of four unearned on the day against the senior.
 
After a solid outing yesterday against the Panthers offense, WIU starter Libby Spaulding (6-9) surrendered five runs to EIU in the first inning on Sunday.  Sophia Olman started the scoring with a bases loaded walk followed by back-to-back two-run doubles by Brooklyn Groppel and Marybeth Dyson.
 
EIU tacked on two more runs in the second inning with a two double by Sophia Olman as she drove in three for the Panthers in the game extending EIU's lead to 7-1.
 
Western Illinois scored one run in the fourth taking advantage of an EIU fielding error and then two additional unearned runs in the fifth as the Panthers committed four errors in the game.  Ruby Tarr and Angie Ortiz both drove in Leatherneck runs in the inning.
 
Karlie McKenzie closed the sixth and seventh innings for EIU to pick up her first save of the season.  Lizzie Stiverson and Groppel both had two hits to lead EIU.
 
Payton Brown and Sophia Sanchez had two hits each for WIU.

LINDENWOOD 15, SOUTHERN INDIANA 6  (5)
LINDENWOOD 3, SOUTHERN INDIANA 2
ST. CHARLES, Mo. - The Lindenwood Softball team (16-18, 5-7 OVC) carried their momentum over from yesterday's 2-0 win into today's doubleheader and picked up two more wins over Southern Indiana to complete the sweep over the Screaming Eagles on Sunday. The Lions set a Division I Era record by scoring 15 runs in a single inning in the first game of the doubleheader, and got great production in the circle out of Ryleigh Owens and Samantha Roulanaitis to extend their winning streak to four games. 

The Screaming Eagles wasted no time getting on the board in game one as they put up three runs in the top of the first inning behind two RBI singles and an RBI double to immediately take a 3-0 lead. USI added on to their lead in the top of the second to make it 4-0 on another RBI single, and the score remained that way until the bottom of the third inning. Entering the home half of the third inning, Lindenwood had zero hits and had just two base runners reach base prior. The Lions exploded for 15 runs on 12 hits and took over the game after that and set the Division One Era record with 15 runs scored in a single inning. It was also the most runs scored in a single game during the 2026 season as well. 

Tori Hatton put LU on the board with an RBI single that scored Madisen Noll, and Emily Geary tied the game at four shortly after with a bases clearing double to left center. Teryn Brown later gave the Lions the lead on an RBI single down the left field line that scored Geary, and Noll followed the Brown RBI single with an RBI single of her own that brought in two more runs to extend Lindenwood's lead to three at 7-4. After Anna Sanders drew a walk, Hatton recorded a triple that brought in three runs to make it 10-4, and Danielle Franz capped off the 15 run inning with a pinch hit two-run double to right field. USI scored one run in the fourth and fifth innings, but the third inning by the Lions sealed the deal as they took care of business in game one to clinch the series victory over USI. 

In the circle, Molly Heidrick picked up her first win of the season by throwing 3.1 innings out of the bullpen allowing one run on five hits and striking out two batters. The Redshirt Junior from Olathe, Kansas entered the game in the bottom of the first inning and was able to keep Southern Indiana at three runs by recording the final out of the inning with a play at the plate in which the runner was out after attempting to take two bases on the Lindenwood defense. 

The Lions carried their momentum over from game one and scored one run in the bottom of the first thanks to a Jolie McMinn RBI groundout to second base to put the Lions ahead 1-0. Lindenwood added on to their lead in the third inning as McMinn picked up her second RBI of the game with a sacrifice fly to right field, and Kylee Crowder made it a 3-0 game on an RBI single through the left side of the infield to seize control of the second game. Ryleigh Owens got the start in the circle and carried a perfect game into the fifth inning, but the Screaming Eagles finally got to Owens and recorded back-to-back hits and scored a run to cut the lead down to 3-1. The Screaming Eagles put up another run in the top of the sixth with a two-out RBI single to centerfield and Owens would be pulled after USI made it a 3-2 game. The Senior pitcher from Edwardsville, Ill finished the game with 5.2 innings pitched and recorded five strikeouts finishing one shy of her season-high. 

Samantha Roulanaitis entered the game for Owens with runners on first and second base with two outs, and needed just four pitches to strike out USI's Grace Huffman to keep the lead in tact for LU. Roulanaitis ended the game for the Lions with a game-ending 1-6-4 double play to pick up her first save of her Lindenwood career and wrapped up a great week in the circle. The Sophomore pitcher ended the week with two complete game shutouts, allowing a total of five hits over 15.1 innings pitched, and finished the week with a 0.00 ERA and a WHIP of .39.

SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 14, TENNESSEE STATE 4  (5)
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 9, TENNESSEE STATE 1  (5)
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Southeast Missouri (10-20, 6-5) completed a series sweep of Tennessee State (0-24, 0-12) with a pair of run-rule victories Sunday. SEMO beat TSU by scores of 14-4 and 9-1 in five innings.
 
SEMO scored 13 unanswered runs on its way to a five-inning game one victory.
 
Down, 4-1, the Redhawks put up seven runs in the bottom of the second and tacked on six more in the third to blow by the Tigers.
 
Lilly Blagoue led off with a walk and pinch-runner Kaylyn Yamnitz scored on Raigan Brannon's single up the middle. Kamden Hutton ripped a double down the left field line to bring home Sydney Miles. Madison Winkler later lifted a sacrifice fly to left and Hutton scored before Addy Martinie hit a three-RBI double. Martinie then scored on Blagoue's double to left giving SEMO an 8-4 advantage.
 
The Redhawks continued their onslaught in the third.
 
Lilly Delmain had a two-RBI infield single, and Aubrie Shore drew a bases loaded walk to bring home Delmain. Martinie grounded out to short, and Brittany Affolter scored. Pinch-hitter Abby Robbins belted her first career double to score both Shore and Winkler extending the Redhawks lead to 14-4.
 
Freshman Summer Branch (1-1) picked up her first career win in the circle. Branch threw three scoreless, one-hit innings with two strikeouts out of the bullpen.
 
Miriam Gordon (0-4) took the loss. Gordon gave up eight runs on six hits and walked one in 1.2 innings.
 
SEMO outhit TSU, 10-4. 
 
Delmain finished at 2-for-2 with two runs and two RBI, while Brannon went 2-for-3 with a run scored and Hutton went 2-for-2 with two runs scored and one RBI. Martinie added a career-high four RBI, as well.
 
In the nightcap, Willow Van Haren allowed just one run on five hits and tied a career-high seven strikeouts in the circle.
 
Tied, 1-1, SEMO blew the game open with six runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to give Van Haren all the run support she needed.
 
The Redhawks sent 11 hitters to the plate during their decisive inning.
 
SEMO added two more runs on a walk-off double by Winkler to finish off the mercy rule win in the fifth.
 
Van Haren improved to 2-6 this season.
 
Winkler went 2-for-3 with four RBI and Shore was 2-for-2 with a walk, while Affolter scored three runs to lead SEMO, which had eight hits.