Aces pick up 8th win of 2022
 HATTIESBURG, Miss. – In the second day of the Hub City Challenge, the University of Evansville softball team split a pair of games, erupting for an 11-0 win over Alcorn State before dropping the second game of the day – a 7-2 decision to Southern Mississippi.
Game 1 – UE 11, Alcorn State 0 (5 innings)
UE scored four times in the first inning and pulled away to finish with an 11-0 win over the Braves to open the day. Alexa Davis walked to lead the game off and would score on a passed ball later in the inning. The big hit came off the bat of Marah Wood, who drilled a 3-run homer to center field to bring in Jessica Fehr and Sydney Weatherford.
Things remained 4-0 in favor of the Aces until the fourth when four more runs crossed the plate. Once again, it was Davis leading off and delivering a double. Weatherford followed with an RBI double to bring in the fifth run of the day. A bases-clearing double by Jenna Nink made it an 8-0 score. In the fifth, the Aces put the finishing touch on the game, extending the lead to 11-0.
Bella Coffey recorded an RBI double to score Elyse Hickey before Brooke McCorkle delivered a 2-run home run to score Coffey and make it an 11-0 game. Alcorn State had one reach base in the bottom of the fifth before Izzy Vetter shut the door and finished with the shutout. Vetter pitched 4 2/3 innings to earn the win. She struck out ten batters. Nink was a perfect 3-3 at the plate with three RBI while Wood matched her RBI total. Davis, Weatherford and Jessica Fehr each scored twice.
Game 2 – Southern Miss 7, UE 2
Southern Miss limited the Aces to two runs on four hits to finish with a 7-2 win. Hannah Hood scored a pair of runs in the contest. The Golden Eagles plated two runs in both the first and second innings before Evansville got on the board in the third. Hood reached on a walk and would score on a USM error.
Following another USM run in the fourth, the Aces got it right back in the fifth when Hood came home for the second time on a Sydney Weatherford single down the right-field line. UE threatened in the top of the sixth as Marah Wood hit a leadoff double, but was stranded at second.  Southern Miss took advantage, plating two more in the sixth to finish off the win. USM starter Morgan Leinstock pitched the complete game and struck out eight. Paige McAllister made the start for UE and allowed four runs, three earned, in three frames.  Weatherford threw the final three innings and gave up the final three runs.
USM and UE meet up again play in a noon contest.
