Softball Report - March 20 (PDF)
This Week's Games
MONDAY, MARCH 20
Murray State at Cal State Northridge (2) - 1 p.m.
TUESDAY, MARCH 21
Alderson Broaddus at
Morehead State (2) - 1 p.m.
Memphis at
Belmont - 4 p.m.
UT Martin at Southern Illinois - 4 p.m.
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 22
Samford at
Austin Peay (2) - 2 p.m.
Jacksonville State at Alabama A&M - 2 p.m.
Kansas at
SIUE - 3 p.m.
Middle Tennessee at
Tennessee State - 6 p.m.
SATURDAY, MARCH 25
Morehead State at
Austin Peay* (2) - 12 p.m.
Southeast Missouri at
Tennessee Tech* (2) - 12 p.m.
Belmont at
Eastern Illinois* (2) - 1 p.m.
Tennessee State at
SIUE* (2) - 1 p.m.
UT Martin at
Jacksonville State* (2) - 1 p.m.
SUNDAY, MARCH 26
Eastern Kentucky at
Austin Peay* (2) - 12 p.m.
UT Martin at
Tennessee Tech* (2) - 12 p.m.
Tennessee State at
Eastern Illinois* (2) - 12 p.m.
Belmont at
SIUE* (2) - 1 p.m.
Southeast Missouri at
Jacksonville State* (2) - 1 p.m.
Morehead State at
Murray State* (2) - 1 p.m.
All times central
* - OVC game
adidas® OVC Players of the Week - March 20
PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
Jess Andree, INF, Jr., 5-3, Darien, Ill. - Belmont
Andree hit .444 with four runs, three HR and 10 RBI as Belmont went 4-1 last week in the Mercer Bears Classic. In the 10-inning win against Mercer, she became the 12th player in NCAA history to hit two grand slams in game. Andree went .500 on the first day of the tournament, going 3-for-6 with a home run and a pair of RBI in two games. She finished the weekend with a .944 slugging percentage.
Others Nominated: Amber Toenyes, Eastern Illinois; Mia Sanchez, Eastern Kentucky; Stephanie Lewis, Jacksonville State; Allison Rager, Morehead State; Tess Eby, SIUE; Gracyn McBride, UT Martin
PITCHER OF THE WEEK:
Chelsea McManaway, P, Jr., 5-10, Wellston, Ohio - Morehead State
McManaway threw 14 scoreless innings and recorded shutout wins against Akron and Oakland last week. She allowed just eight eights and one walk over the 14 innings, while striking out 13. She now has a school-record seven shutouts this season.
Others Nominated: Lexi Rouse, Belmont; Jessica Wireman, Eastern Illinois; Alex Sallberg, Eastern Kentucky; Whitney Gillespie, Jacksonville State; Emily Ingles, SIUE; Sara Hooten, UT Martin
2017 OVC Softball Team Notes
AUSTIN PEAY (8-14 overall, 0-0 OVC): Austin Peay dropped a three-game series to Lipscomb last week. Pitcher Sidney Hooper recorded a strikeout in relief on Sunday, becoming the 15th pitcher in school history to record at least 100 career strikeouts. Danielle Liermann had her 13-game hit-streak and 17-game reached base streak come to an end as she with 0-for-3 in the first game versus the Bison. Austin Peay will host Samford on Wednesday before opening up OVC play this weekend at home versus Morehead State on Saturday and Eastern Kentucky on Sunday.
BELMONT (22-6 overall, 0-0 OVC): Belmont went 4-1 at the Mercer Bears Classic last week. The Bruins split a pair of games with Eastern Michigan, defeated Mercer twice and defeated Savannah State. The Bruins reached the 20-win mark for the first time in the Division I era. Junior Jess Andree hit. 444 with three home runs and 10 RBI over the five games. She became the 12th player in NCAA history to hit a pair of grand slams in the tourney finale versus Mercer. Junior pitcher Lexi Rouse went 3-0 in the circle, giving up just three runs. She struck out eight batters in her 15.2 innings of work. Belmont will host Memphis on Tuesday before opening OVC play up on the road this weekend at Eastern Illinois on Saturday and SIUE on Sunday.
EASTERN ILLINOIS (14-14 overall, 0-0 OVC): Eastern Illinois split a doubleheader with Kennesaw State before going 2-2 at the Mercer Bears Classic last week. The Panthers defeated Eastern Michigan and Savannah State while falling to Mercer twice in the tourney. Senior Amber Toenyes led the Panther with a .333 batting average, six runs, three home runs and five RBI. Junior pitcher Jessica Wireman picked up a pair of wins last week, striking out 13 in 17.1 innings of work. Eastern Illinois begins conference play this week as it hosts Belmont on Saturday and Tennessee State on Sunday.
EASTERN KENTUCKY (11-16 overall, 0-0 OVC): Eastern Kentucky went 4-2 last week. The Colonels won two games with Alcorn State and Saint Louis while dropping a pair to Memphis. Freshman Mia Sanchez recorded 10 hits, eight runs scored over the six game. She also went 7-for-7 in stolen base attempts. She hit safely and scored at least one run in each of the six games while posting a .565 on-base percentage. Senior pitcher Alex Sallberg won four games and struck out 25 in 24.2 innings. She tossed a complete-game two-hit shutout with nine strikeouts at Alcorn State. Eastern Kentucky will host Kentucky on Wednesday before opening up OVC play on the road this weekend at Austin Peay on Sunday.
JACKSONVILLE STATE (17-8 overall, 0-0 OVC): Jacksonville State defeated Winthrop and Western Kentucky before splitting a doubleheader with Kennesaw State last week. Senior Stephanie Lewis led the Gamecocks with at least one hit in every game and scoring a run in three of the four games. She finished the week with eight hits, six runs, one double and three RBI. Junior pitcher Whitney Gillespie earned all three runs for JSU last week. She came on in relief against Winthrop in the third and tossed five innings of two-hit, shutout softball, fanning seven batters. She followed that up with a complete-game shutout against Western Kentucky. She gave up just two hits and struck out 10. She earned the complete game victory over Kennesaw State, fanning nine . Jacksonville State will travel to Alabama A&M on Wednesday before returning home to begin Conference play with UT Martin on Saturday and Southeast Missouri on Sunday.
MOREHEAD STATE (14-7 overall, 0-0 OVC): Morehead State defeated Akron once and Oakland twice last week. The Eagles have now won seven straight games. Sophomore Allison Rager hit .600 over the three games with three runs, one double, one triple, two home runs and four RBI. In the second game versus Oakland, Rager tripled and scored the game-winning run. Junior Chelsea McManaway threw 14 scoreless innings and recorded a pair of shutouts. She allowed just eight hits and struck out 13 while walking just one in 14 innings of work. She now has a school-record seven shutouts on the season. The Eagles will hit the road this weekend to open up OVC play at Austin Peay on Saturday and Murray State on Sunday.
MURRAY STATE (23-6 overall, 0-0 OVC): Murray State swept a doubleheader with Western Illinois before going 1-2 to begin the Cal State Northridge Matador Classic. The Racers defeated Bryant and fell to Weber State and Quinnipiac. The loss to Weber State snapped Murray State's 12-game winning streak The Racers will conclude the Matador Classic with a doubleheader with Cal State Northridge on Monday before opening up OVC play at home this week with Morehead State on Sunday.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI (15-10 overall, 0-0 OVC): Southeast Missouri went 2-5- last week. The Redhawks defeated Georgia Tech and UMKC while falling to Kennesaw State, Tulsa, Omaha and Kansas. Southeast Missouri will open up OVC play this weekend at Tennessee Tech on Saturday and Jacksonville State on Sunday.
SIUE (21-5 overall, 0-0 OVC): SIUE defeated Toledo and Northern Kentucky while falling to Ball STate last week. Junior Tess Eby tied for the team lead in hits for the week with five while also pacing the squad with three RBI. She hit the game-tying home run against Ball State. Allison Smiley drove in the game-winning run versus Northern Kentucky and now has a team-leading 27 RBI this season. Freshman pitcher Emily Ingles tossed a one-hit shutout in the win over Northern Kentucky. She struck out the first nine straight batters versus NKU, finishing with a season-high 14 strikeouts in six innings. It was her third shutout of the season. She held opponents to a .077 batting average over the 8.0 innings of work. SIUE will host Kansas on Wednesday before opening up OVC play at home with Tennessee State on Saturday and Belmont on Sunday.
TENNESSEE STATE (7-15 overall, 0-0 OVC): Tennessee State had its only games of the week versus Northern Kentucky cancelled due to inclement weather last week. The Tigers will return to the field on Wednesday when they host Middle Tennessee before beginning OVC play on the road this weekend at SIUE on Saturday and Eastern Illinois on Sunday.
TENNESSEE TECH (7-17 overall, 0-0 OVC): Tennessee Tech dropped both end of a doubleheader with East Tennessee State last week in its only games of the week. The Golden Eagles will open up Conference play this week as it hosts Southeast Missouri on Saturday and UT Martin on Sunday.
UT MARTIN (20-8 overall, 0-0 OVC): UT Martin went 3-1 in its own Skyhawk Hampton Inn Classic last week. The Skyhawks split a pair of games with Samford and defeated Western Illinois twice. Sophomore Gracyn McBride recorded a hit in three of the four games while driving in three runs last week. She hit the go-ahead two-run home run in the first game with WIU. Sophomore pitcher Sara Hooten earned a pair of wins, giving up just two earned runs and striking out in 12 in 14.0 innings. UT Martin will travel to Southern Illinois on Tuesday before opening up OVC play on the road at Jacksonville State on Saturday and Tennessee Tech on Sunday.