Final game of series set for Saturday at noonÂ
Morgan Florey and Chandra Parr helped the University of Evansville softball team earn its first Missouri Valley Conference win of the season as the Purple Aces took the second game of the doubleheader against UNI on Friday afternoon at Cooper Stadium.
Evansville (12-15, 1-4 MVC) fell to UNI (23-9, 3-2 MVC) by a 6-0 final in the first game of the day before rebounding with a 6-1 triumph in game two. The teams are set for the rubber match on Saturday at noon inside Cooper Stadium.
“I am very proud of how our girls bounced back today,†Aces head coach Mat Mundell said. “We play six really good innings in game one and were really able to put it together in game two. UNI is one of the best teams in the conference and we played right with them all day.â€
A pitcher’s duel took place in the first game as the contest was scoreless for the first five frames. Starters Amanda Blankenship along with Chelsea Ross of UNI allowed a combined 11 hits in their 14 innings of work. Northern Iowa was the first to find the scoreboard as they pushed a run across in the sixth on a Micalla Rettinger RBI single.
The Panthers saw five more runs cross the plate in the top of the 7th as a 3-run home run from Anna Varriano was the big play in the inning. The Aces finished the game with five hits as Courtney Land hit two of them.
UNI was able to get on the board right away in game two as Chelsea Ross hit a home run to deep center field to give the Panthers an early 1-0 advantage. Evansville came right back in the bottom half of the inning utilizing some 2-out magic. After the first two batters of the game struck out, the Purple Aces saw five batters in a row reach base.
With the bases loaded, a wild pitch brought home Chandra Parr for the first run of the day for UE. Pitcher Morgan Florey helped her own cause, shooting a single up the middle to bring in two more runs to give UE a 3-1 lead. Evansville struck again in the bottom of the third as Danielle Freeman laced a double to left field, plating Parr, who reached base earlier in the inning. She would later score on an error to give the Aces a 5-1 edge.
One more run would cross the plate in the sixth and Florey got the job done in the circle, throwing a complete game en route to her sixth win over the season. She allowed one run on six hits and struck out six batters. The Aces notched six hits in the second game as Parr, Freeman and Florey had two apiece.
Tomorrow, the final game of the series will take place at Cooper Stadium in a noon start time.
