Aces belt two home runs in the win
Facing one of the top pitching staffs in the nation, the University of Evansville softball team put on a clinic, erupting for a season-high 14 runs to pick up a 14-8 victory over Georgia Southern on Friday evening at Eagle Field in the Eagle Round Robin.
Entering the weekend, the Eagles (8-3) ERA stood at 0.73, one of the lowest in the NCAA. Evansville (5-5) did not let that statistic deter its efforts, scoring seven runs in the first three innings. Freshmen Jenna Lis and Kat Mueller combined for nine RBI, four hits and four runs. Lis was 2-4 with five RBI, including her first home run, which was a grand slam. Mueller had a 2-3 game with four runs batted in. Each scored twice. Jessica Fehr added three hits in five at-bats. She registered her first homer of the season and four RBI on the night. Alyssa Barela and Hannah Hood added two hits each.
“I am extremely proud of the way the ladies hit the ball up and down the lineup. We had a good game plan going into the game and the ladies really executed it,†Purple Aces head softball coach Mat Mundell said. “We have been hitting the ball hard all year; we told them to trust the process and the hits would fall. Tonight they did.â€
Georgia Southern got on the board first with a pair of runs in the first, but UE did not waste any time fighting back. Katie McLean hit a leadoff double to open the top of the second before Lindsay Renneisen reached on a walk. Both crossed the plate when Kat Mueller belted a 2-out double. Jessica Fehr followed up with a single that scored Mueller for the third run of the inning.
The Eagles retook the lead in the bottom of the second with three more runs, but Evansville struck again in the third with four runs on a Jenna Lis grand slam. Haley Woolf and Renneisen both reached base on GSU errors while Hannah Hood was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Lis, who delivered the hit that would put the Aces in front for good.
In the fourth, Fehr hit a leadoff home run before Woolf added an RBI double to extend the advantage to 9-5. The 10th run of the night crossed the plate in the fifth thanks to a Mueller sacrifice fly. Georgia Southern inched closer with two runs in the sixth before UE slammed the door in the seventh, adding four insurance runs to finish with the 14-8 victory. Lis and Mueller had RBI singles in the frame while Fehr brought home two runs with a single to center.
Pitching five innings of relief, UE sophomore Izzy Vetter picked up the win, her second of the season. Emily Lockhart tossed the first inning before Vetter threw five strong frames. She allowed four runs, just two earned, on four hits. She struck out three batters. Erin Kleffman threw a scoreless seventh.
Two games are on the docket for Saturday, beginning with a 9 a.m. CT game against Furman. The Aces finish the day with a 2 p.m. contest versus Maryland.
