Aces finish weekend with 3-1 record
 HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Minutes after Southern Miss tied the score at 1-1, Bella Coffey hit a 2-run double to help the University of Evansville softball team finish the Hub City Challenge with a 3-1 win over Southern Miss.
Evansville’s win caps off another strong weekend that saw the Purple Aces go 3-1 while improving to 9-5 on the season with three of those losses coming to opponents ranked in the top eight in the nation.
Izzy Vetter was the story through the first five innings on Sunday. The senior allowed just one Southern Miss hit in the opening five frames while the offense gave her a 1-0 lead in the third. UE threatened in the first inning when a 1-out single by Jessica Fehr was followed by a double from Marah Wood. Fehr rounded third before an excellent throw got the out at home.
Two innings later, Fehr continued to swing the hot bat, reaching on a 2-out double. Wood followed with her second double of the contest and Fehr crossed the plate for the first run of the game. The score remained 1-0 in favor of UE until the sixth when the Golden Eagles knotted the score at 1-1, picking up three of their four hits on the day.
In the seventh, the Aces offense wasted little time in working to retake the lead. Hannah Hood led off with a walk and Alexa Davis followed with a single. The duo advanced to second and third on the play and gave Bella Coffey a big opportunity. Coffey delivered, doubling down the right field line to put Evansville on top at 3-1. Vetter was solid in the seventh, allowing one walk before recording the final two outs to clinch the win. She picked up win #7 of the season.
Fehr and Wood accounted for four of UE’s eight hits in the game. Fehr, Hood and Davis scored the three Aces runs.
Home action opens next weekend with the UE Softball Invitational. Running Friday through Sunday, the Aces are set to face Oakland, Green Bay, Morehead State, Creighton and Bowling Green.
