UE defeats St. Bonaventure and Bellarmine
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – On Sunday, the University of Evansville softball team erupted for 36 runs in two games to defeat St Bonaventure and Bellarmine. With the performance, the Purple Aces have won four of their last five games.
Game 1 – UE 19, St. Bonaventure 4
Evansville scored 10 runs in the first inning and never looked back, cruising to a 19-4 victory over St. Bonaventure in the first game of the day. Marah Wood got things rolling with a 3-run home run. Hits by Alexa Davis and Brooke Voss set the table to Jenna Nink, who brought both in on a 2-run single.
Kayley Batts was hit by a pitch before Zoe Frossard singled to load the bases for Hannah Hood. She came through with a grand slam to left that capped the 10-run start. Batts and Nink each had RBI hits while Jess Willsey added a sac fly in a 3-run second inning before Brooke Voss had a 2-run shot in the third to give the Purple Aces a 15-3 lead.
Four more runs would score in the fifth as Lacy Smith, Taylor Howe and Callie Meinel picked up RBI hits to complete the scoring and a 19-4 UE win. Mikayla Jolly made the start. She pitched three innings with three runs scoring. Elle Jarrett threw the final two frames. Voss and Nink picked up three hits apiece while Hood led the way with four RBI. Voss added a team-high four runs scored.
Game 2 – UE 17, Bellarmine 7
Another nice start saw Evansville pick up three runs in both the first and second innings on its way to a 17-7 victory. Marah Wood and Abby Bode each had RBIs in the first while Bode struck again with a 2-run single in the top half of the second.
Two more runs crossed the plate in the third as Hannah Hood picked up a sacrifice fly and Jess Willsey picked up an RBI single to extend the lead to 8-2. Evansville put a 5-spot on the board in the fifth. Kayley Batts and Willsey each picked up 2-RBI hits in the frame while Hannah Hood notched an RBI single.
Following scoreless 5th and 6th innings, the Aces were back at it with a 4-run seventh with all four scoring with two outs. After Hood led the inning off with a double, two quick fly outs brought Abby Bode to the plate. She launched a 2-run homer to bring in hood. Alexa Davis reached on a dropped fly ball to bring up Brooke Voss, who hit a homer of her own to make it a 17-7 game and that would be the final.
The Aces accumulated 17 runs on 16 hits in the game as Willsey led the way with three hits. Bode notched a team-high five RBI while Willsey notched three. Frossard and Hood scored three runs apiece. Sydney Weatherford made the start, giving up five runs in 2 1/3 innings. Megan Brenton threw the final 4 2/3 with two runs scoring on four hits.
Missouri Valley Conference action begins this week with UE facing Indiana State at 5 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday at Tri-State Orthopaedics Field at James & Dorothy Cooper Stadium.
