TUESDAY'S SCORES
Lipscomb 5-2, @Tennessee Tech 0-1
@SIU Edwardsville 3, Missouri State 1
Eastern Kentucky 2-5, @North Carolina A&T 1-3
@UAB 13, Jacksonville State 5
@Stetson 2-1, Austin Peay 0-5
LIPSCOMB 5-2, TENNESSEE TECH 0-1
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Behind a pair of dominant pitching performances, the No. 25 Lipscomb Lady Bisons swept a doubleheader against Tennessee Tech on Tuesday at the Tech Softball Field. Lipscomb earned a 5-0 win in the first contest before edging TTU, 2-1, in the nightcap.
Tech drops to 8-9 overall this season with the two defeats, while Lipscomb improves to 18-1. The Lady Bisons, ranked No. 25 in the latest Ultimate College Softball poll, have won 15 consecutive games after losing their third game of the season to South Alabama.
The Golden Eagles had a tough task from the outset for Tuesday's game as they fell behind 3-0 in the first inning as the Lady Bisons took advantage of a Golden Eagle error to score a pair of unearned runs.
To make matters more difficult, TTU was facing Lipscomb's Whitney Kiihnl who entered the game with an 11-0 record and 0.11 earned run average.
Tech looked like it might have something going in the bottom half of the 2nd inning as Callie Schmidt lined a singled past the second baseman to put the leadoff batter aboard. Two batters later, Holly Thomas was hit by a pitch to put two runners on with two outs, but both would be stranded as Kiihnl struck out her third batter of the inning to get out of the frame.
A scary moment occurred in the top of the 3rd when Thomas, Tech's starting pitcher, could not get out of the way of a hard-hit line drive that struck the sophomore in the stomach. Thomas regained her composure and tracked down the ball in time to throw to first base for the out. After taking several minutes to collect herself and recover from the blow, Thomas remained in the game and held Lipscomb at bay for the next three innings.
Claudia Harke relieved Thomas in the 7th inning as Lipscomb tacked on two more to close out the game with a five-run lead.
Schmidt recorded Tech's only hit of the day as she finished 1-for-3. Anna Zdroik battled in her three plate appearances as she went 0-for-1 with a pair of walks.
Thomas' final line was 6.0 innings pitched with four strikeouts and one earned run allowed as she dropped to 5-4 this season.
Tech fell behind early in the second game as well when Lipscomb used a Golden Eagle error that put the leadoff batter on first base to eventually take a 1-0 lead on a sacrifice fly.
The Golden Eagles battled back in their half of the 2nd as Kaleigh Gates started the inning with a single to left field. Tech starter Maddie Schmissrauter then reached on a Lady Bison error to put runners at first and second with no outs. Brittany Spalding laid down a sacrifice bunt to move the runners up a base, and two batters later, Brooke Basten hit a hard grounder that was mishandled by the second baseman, allowing Gates to score and tie the game, 1-1.
Lipscomb answered in the top of the 3rd with a run to regain the lead, 2-1.
In the bottom of the 4th, the Golden Eagles nearly tied the game at 2-2, but Schmissrauter was gunned out at home trying to score from second on a single up the middle by Basten. Schmissrauter had started the inning with a single to left field and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Jordan Leff.
Lipscomb was able to hold Tech without a hit the rest of the way to cap off the 2-1 win.
Gates, Schmissrauter and Whitney Cummings all finished 1-for-2 at the plate in game two of the doubleheader.
Schmissrauter (3-2) was the tough-luck loser as she struck out eight and allowed just three hits and one earned run in 7.0 innings in the circle.
SIU EDWARDSVILLE 3, MISSOURI STATE 1
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Southern Illinois University Edwardsville welcomed its first home softball game of the season no matter how misty it was at Cougar Field.
The Cougars, now 10-9 overall, made the most of the chilly day with a 3-1 victory over Missouri State.
Whitney Davis gave Cougar fans some excitement early when she rapped a two-RBI single in the first inning. That scored Chaleen Rumpf and Lindsey Barron to open the game's scoring.
Davis added another hit later in the game and now has a team-leading 11-game hitting streak.
SIUE hurler Erika Taylor improved to 9-6 on the season. She scattered six hits and struck out six for her 13th compete game of the season. Taylor and the Cougars had to battle a dreary and wet field. The Cougars made just one error to Missouri State's three.
SIUE added an insurance run in the third inning. Lauren Zembruski drew a walk to lead off the inning and later scored after back-to-back errors by the Bears' infield.
Missouri State, 2-10, would score its only run in the fourth inning. Caitlin Chapin drew a two-out walk, stole second, and scored on a single to center field by Madison Hargrove.
Lauren McGinley, 1-4, suffered the loss for the Bears. The right-hander went 1 1/3 innings before being pulled from the game.
EASTERN KENTUCKY 2-5, NORTH CAROLINA A&T 1-3
GREENSBORO, N.C. - Eastern Kentucky freshman Kristin Perry pitched a complete game and struck out 13 batters to earn her first collegiate victory in a 2-1 win against North Carolina A&T in the first game of a doubleheader on Tuesday. The Colonels (3-12) also won game two by a score of 5-3 in eight innings. Perry came on in relief and struck out five more in three innings to earn her second win of the season.
In the first game, EKU fell behind 1-0, but tied the score in the fourth when Jena Handley scored on one of North Carolina A&T's three errors. The winning run scored in the top of the seventh on another Aggie error. Perry retired the side in order in the bottom of the seventh, including striking out the final two batters.
North Carolina A&T (8-3) also led 1-0 in the second game before the Colonels platted two runs on two Aggie errors. In the two games combined, NCAT had six errors. The Aggies tied the game 3-3 with two runs in the sixth. In the top of the eighth, Handley drove in the go-ahead run with a single to center. A sacrifice fly by Larkyn Wood gave EKU a two-run cushion.
Perry struck out the first two batters in the bottom of the eight before issuing a walk. However, the freshman finished off the Aggies with another strikeout one batter later.
Handley and Gallagher each had two hits.
UAB 13, JACKSONVILLE STATE 5
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - UAB rallied to overcome a five-run deficit and hand the Jacksonville State softball team a 13-5 loss on Tuesday night in nonconference action at the UAB Softball Field.
Junior Sallie Beth Burch doubled twice and senior Chrissy O'Neal went 2-for-3 to lead a 10-hit attack by the JSU offense, but it would be UAB's 10-hit effort that proved the most effective on the night. The Gamecocks (6-8) used a four-run fourth inning to build a 5-0 lead but watched the Blazers (14-5) rally to tie it in the fifth before ending the game in the bottom of the sixth.
UAB got two hits each from Mandy Lowman and Hailey Glynn, while Issa Brown drove in three runs on a sixth-inning double.
O'Neal got the scoring started in the top of the first after her leadoff single set up an RBI single to center from Kaycee Crow that plated O'Neal and gave the Gamecocks the early 1-0 lead.
JSU stretched that lead to 5-0 in the fourth, thanks to a four-hit frame that started with one-out doubles from Amanda Crow and Sallie Beth Burch and saw RBI singles from O'Neal and Hillary Downs before UAB finally got out of the inning.
The Blazers answered and answered quickly, scoring four runs in the home half of the fourth, thanks to a Mandy Lowman leadoff homer and a two-run double from Martina Landrum that cut the Gamecocks' lead to one. UAB would tie it up with another in the fifth, when Kate Armstrong's RBI ground out scored Donna Plath from third.
Burch got things going for the Gamecocks in the top of the sixth with a leadoff double to right center, but they couldn't push the go-ahead run any farther than third before the Blazers got out of the jam.
UAB would make the Gamecocks pay in the bottom of the inning, when the Blazers loaded the bases with no outs before scoring three runs on a pair of JSU errors. They would eventually plate five more runs in the inning to end the game via the mercy rule.
Junior Ashley Eliasson started the game in the circle for the Gamecocks and worked into the fifth inning before being chased. She allowed five runs on four hits and three walks, while recording one strikeout. Freshman Hilary Phillips (3-2) suffered the loss after surrendering eight runs, only two earned, on six hits in 1.2 innings of work.
Alisha Smith started for UAB and was pulled in the fifth after allowing five runs, four earned, on eight hits in four innings of work. She did strike out six and walk one before giving way to Amber Torres, who tossed 1.1 scoreless innings. Lauren Webster recorded just two outs but earned the win in relief.
STETSON 2-1, AUSTIN PEAY 0-5
DELAND, Fla. - It took awhile for the Austin Peay softball team to get its bats going Tuesday night versus Stetson at Patricia Wilson Field, but when they did good things happened, as the Lady Govs closed out their Florida swing earning a split with the Hatters, winning the nightcap 5-1 after dropping the opener 2-0.
Austin Peay (5-14) would score its first run of the day in the top of the second inning of Game 2, with senior Brittany Williams leading off the inning with a single to right field and stole second to get into scoring position.
Williams would move to third on a sacrifice by freshman Morgan Brewer and came in to score when Stetson starter Courtney Gunby threw a wild pitch.
The Lady Govs weren't done in the inning, with junior Randal Davenport walking and moved to second on a sacrifice by senior Detra Farley and then scored on a double to right field by sophomore Amy Mills making it 2-0.
Austin Peay would add three more run in the top of the third, as the Lady Govs collected four hits, including a two-run single by Davenport down the left field line driving in red-shirt freshman Shelby Norton and Williams, while Brewer had the other RBI on an infield single driving in Smith.
Stetson would touch Brewer up for its lone run of the game in the bottom of the fourth inning on Jessica Lokeinsky's second home run of the season.
Game 1, saw the Lady Govs play well defensively and get good enough pitching to win, but only managed one runner and no hits, as Stetson pitcher Amanda Lindsey came one walk away from throwing a perfect game.
Stetson (11-9) got on the board in the bottom of the first inning of Game 1 without swing the bat, as Lady Gov starting pitcher senior Meagan Williams walked three of the first four hitters she faced before being removed for senior Abby Mabry.
Mabry would walk the first batter she faced forcing in a run and making it 1-0, but was able to get out the inning by inducing a groundball out and getting the third out at the plate here the Hatters tried to score on a wild pitch.
Stetson would make it 2-0 in the bottom of the second when Rachel Lowe doubled in pinch runner Chelsea Whalley - who had come to run for Carolyn Boyd - after Body had opened the inning with a single.
Austin Peay would break up Amanda Lindsey's perfect game in the top of the fifth inning, as Lady Govs leadoff hitter junior Tiffany Smith walked. She would be the only base runner that the Lady Govs would have in the first game.