UE picks up two wins on Friday
Four players hit home runs on Friday to lead the University of Evansville softball team to a doubleheader sweep at Missouri State. UE took a 3-1 win in game one before finishing with an 11-7 triumph in game two.
Game one featured a 2-run home run from Lindsay Renneisen while the second tilt saw Eryn Gould, Bailee Bostic and Halie Woolf hit long balls. Woolf’s shot was a grand slam that saw the Aces (15-26, 6-12 MVC) earn the come-from-behind win. Missouri State (26-16, 11-7 MVC) took a pair of late leads in the contest, but the Aces answered each time.Emily Lockhart pitched a gem while Lindsay Renneisen hit her seventh home run of the season to lead UE to a 3-1 win in the first game of the day. With a scoreless game to start the top of the third, Toni Galas reached on an error before scoring on an RBI single from Eryn Gould.
With one out, Lindsay Renneisen hit a home run to left-center to push the Evansville lead to 3-0. That was all the cushion that Lockhart would need in the circle as she gave up just four hits while striking out seven in another complete game effort. UE tallied five hits with Katie McLean, Allison Daggett and Bailee Bostic joining Gould and Renneisen with one apiece.
Riding the momentum from their win to start the day, the Aces got off to another nice start in the second game. Drawing a 3-2 count, Eryn Gould led the game off with a home run to left-center. With one out, Renneisen singled to center before Daggett reached on a double. That brought Halie Fain to the plate, who came through with a single that scored Renneisen.
Missouri State scored their first run in the bottom of the first before the Aces roared back with two more in the third. With two on and two outs, Bailee Bostic singled to right to score Daggett and Mea Adams. The scored remained 4-1 in favor of UE until the bottom of the fourth when the Bears scored five times to take a 6-4 lead. The big hit was a 3-run pinch hit home run by Hope Hamilton.
The lead for MSU did not last long as the Aces came right back with a pair of runs in the top of the fifth. McKenzie Johnson and Gould notched RBI hits to make it a 6-6 game. After the Bears retook the lead at 7-6 with a single run in the fifth, the Aces made another comeback. Bailee Bostic led the seventh frame off with a home run that knotted the score. Jessica Fehr followed up with a single before a Gould walk and McLean single loaded up the bases for Woolf, who came through with the game-winning grand slam with two outs.
Evansville’s offense recorded season-highs with 16 hits and 11 runs in the game. Woolf had four runs batted in while Bostic tallied three and Gould had two. Seven UE players recorded two hits apiece while Gould and Fehr both scored twice. Izzy Vetter made the start in game two, allowing six runs in 3 2/3 innings. Ashleigh Downing tossed 2/3 of an inning while Lockhart picked up her second win of the day, throwing a scoreless 2 2/3 frames while allowing just a hit.
