Aces to begin preparations for MVC Tournament
CHICAGO – Three runs crossed the plate in the bottom of the fifth inning as Loyola came from behind to defeat the University of Evansville softball team, 4-3, in Sunday’s regular season finale.
The Purple Aces finish the regular season with a 24-25 mark and 12-14 in the Missouri Valley Conference. The 12 victories in conference play marks the most since the 2007 campaign when UE also had 12 wins. Taking the 6th seed, UE has clinched its best MVC finish since taking the same spot in the 2008 campaign. This weekend also capped off an unbelievable turnaround that saw the squad more than double its wins from a season ago.
UE will be the #6 seed for the MVC Tournament and is set to face #7 Illinois State in the first round on Thursday at 1:34 p.m. This year’s tournament is being hosted by Southern Illinois in Carbondale.
“When we met at the start of the season we talked about our goals; our number 1 goal was to go out and compete. I think we did that in every game we played this regular season,†UE head coach Mat Mundell said. “To go from 10 wins to 24 is a testament to the girls buying in to what we’re are trying to build here in Evansville. I think we have changed a lot of opinions about Purple Aces Softball.”
Morgan Florey registered three hits as Evansville’s designated player on Sunday. She also recorded an RBI and scored once. Courtney Land and Hayli Scott posted two hits apiece. Land notched an RBI while Morgan Lambert knocked in the other UE run. In the circle, Emily Lockhart threw the full six innings. Just one of Loyola’s four runs were earned.
Evansville got to work very fast in the first inning as Land and Florey each notched one-out singles. That brought Lambert to the plate, who singled to center to give UE a 1-0 lead. After the Ramblers (21-18, 5-19 MVC) tied it up in the second, the game went scoreless until the top of the fifth.
That is when Florey hit her eighth home run of the season to put the Aces back on top. The difference in the contest game in the Ramblers’ half of the fifth as a triple off the bat of Katy LaCivita saw two runs score. They added one more to take a 4-2 lead. The Aces scored in the top of the seventh on a Land home run, but Loyola closed out the game and the 4-3 win.
