Aces softball defeats Siena to close out play on Saturday

UE opens trip to Tennessee with split

  After falling to Rutgers to open the day on Saturday, the University of Evansville softball team rebounded with a 7-4 win over Siena in the Buccaneer Classic at Betty Basler Field.

“I really liked the way we hit today.  In game one, we had runs on and just did not get the big hit, but in the second game, we did,” UE head coach Mat Mundell said.  “Even our outs against Siena were hard hit balls.  On the other side, our defense made some great plays all day.”

The Aces win over the Saints in the second game of the day saw UE muster up six hits with Eryn Gould accounting for two. Gould led the way with four runs batted in while she and Katie McLean scored two runs apiece.  Evansville wasted no time in getting on the board, scoring twice in the first.

McLean drew a walk to lead the inning off and would cross the plate on a Gould home run.  UE continued to hit well in the second, adding four more runs.  Jessica Fehr hit a leadoff walk before stealing second and moving to third on a Mea Adams sacrifice.  McLean walked for the second time in two innings before stealing second.  That brought Gould to the plate, who singled up the middle to score the pair.  Next up was Bailee Bostic, who homered to left field to score Gould and push the lead to 6-0.

A single run for the Saints would cross the plate in the third, but UE got it back in the bottom half of the fourth when a Lindsay Renneisen double scored Olivia Cheatham, who entered the game as a pinch runner.  Siena scored three times in the fourth off of UE starter Izzy Vetter, but Jaime Nurrenbern and Emily Lockhart combined to pitch 2 2/3 innings of scoreless relief to lead the Aces to the win.  Vetter picked up the win, improving to 3-1.

In the first game of the day, Rutgers finished with a 9-1 win in six innings.  The Scarlet Knights plated a run in the first before the Aces got it right back with a solo shot by Jessica Fehr in the second.  A 5-spot in the third saw the Scarlet Knights extend the lead back out before the finished with the 9-1 win.

UE had five hits in the contest with Mackenzie McFeron accounting for a pair.  Lockhart made the start, giving up six runs, only two of which were earned, in four innings.  Ashleigh Downing tossed the fifth frame.

On Sunday, the Aces open up with an 11 a.m. rematch against the Saints before facing the host East Tennessee State at 3 p.m.  Both times are eastern.