UE defeats St. Thomas and WIU
 MURRAY, Ky. – Day two of the Racer Classic saw the University of Evansville softball team rebound with a pair of victories over St. Thomas and Western Illinois to complete their final non-conference tournament. UE now has its sights set on Missouri Valley Conference play, which begins this weekend at Cooper Stadium against Drake.
 Game One – UE 6, St. Thomas 0
Sydney Weatherford did it all in Monday’s opener, throwing a complete game shutout while helping her own cause with four RBI and a home run. With one out in the first, Weatherford hit a solo homer, the second of her career, to put the Aces on the board.
UE wasted little time in adding to its lead, scoring four times in the second. Haley Woolf led off with a walk before Hannah Hood reached on a bunt single. Mackenzie McFeron and Jessica Fehr each walked, the latter coming with the bases loaded. That sequence brought Weatherford back to the plate where she hit a bases-clearing triple to make it a 5-0 game.
Hood reached base once again in the fifth with a leadoff walk. After stealing second, she advanced to third on a McFeron sacrifice. Fehr walked for the second time in the game and combined with Hood for a double steal that accounted for the sixth and final run of the game. Weatherford recorded her third win of the season and second complete game. She gave up eight hits while fanning five batters.
Game Two – UE 7, Western Illinois 2
Another strong all-around effort saw the Purple Aces earn win #2 of the day, taking down Western Illinois by a 7-2 final in the second game of the day.
Back-to-back doubles saw the Purple Aces open the scoring in the top half of the third. Mackenzie McFeron hit a 1-out single before crossing the plate on a double from Jessica Fehr. Sydney Weatherford followed with a double down the left field line to make it a 2-0 game.
Two more runs crossed the plate in the fourth with Haley Woolf leading off with a single. Alexa Davis was hit by a pitch before Hannah Hood singled to lead the bases for Jenna Lis, who hit a sacrifice fly to bring in Woolf. Walks by Zoe Frossard and Fehr produced another run. Marah Wood added a home run in the fifth to make it a 5-0 lead for the Aces. Two more runs crossed the plate in the sixth to cap off Evansville’s scoring.
Western Illinois got on the board when Georgia Rea hit a 2-run homer to make it a 7-2 game in the sixth. Izzy Vetter took care of business from there, keeping the Leathernecks off the board in the seventh to clinch her 11th win of the season. She allowed two runs on three hits while striking out seven. Fehr had two of the Aces’ seven hits.
There has been a schedule change for UE. The Aces were originally scheduled to face Tennessee Tech on Wednesday, March 16. With both teams playing on Monday of this week, the doubleheader has been moved to Tuesday, March 22. Two games will be played with the opener set for a 2 p.m. first pitch.
