Aces Head To Conference Play On A Winning Note
With Missouri Valley Conference play set to begin next weekend, the University of Evansville softball team wrapped up its pre-conference slate on a winning note, defeating Western Michigan by a 6-2 final on Sunday afternoon at Cooper Stadium.
Jenna Lis paced the Purple Aces (11-6) with a 2-for-4 effort while knocking in three of her teams six runs. Eryn Gould and Marah Wood added two hits apiece with each scoring a run. Katie McLean scored twice. Izzy Vetter took the win, striking out nine batters in the complete game performance. It is her sixth victory of the year. Western Michigan (4-9) saw four players record two hits apiece.
After recording two hits in the top of the first, the Broncos were able to get on the board with a run in the second. They continued to put runners on base with the first two batters reaching in the third. After a sacrifice advanced them into scoring position, Izzy Vetter got two strikeouts to end the inning.
The offense rewarded Vetter in the third when Haley Woolf tied the game with a sacrifice fly before a 2-run single by Jenna Lis put the Aces in front by a 3-1 score. Marah Wood added a sac fly of her own in the fourth before another run came home on an error that extended the lead to 5-1. Lis added another RBI to her tally in the fifth when a single to center scored Mackenzie McFeron.
Western Michigan made a huge rally in the sixth with the first three runners reaching base. That led to their second run of the game, but Vetter shut the door once again before Jaime Nurrenbern tossed a scoreless inning of relief in the seventh.
Evansville’s first MVC series will take place next weekend at Cooper Stadium when the Aces welcome Loyola.
