Aces defeat Northern Illinois on Tuesday
Brittany Hay and Morgan Florey were the top performers for the University of Evansville softball team as they defeated Northern Illinois by a final of 4-2 in the home opener on Tuesday at Cooper Stadium.
Hay was a perfect 2-2 from the plate while scoring three runs. Florey went the distance in the circle, tying her career mark with 14 strikeouts. She also notched a home run and two RBIs on the offensive side for the Purple Aces (8-12).
“This was a good team win for us. We played a great game defensively with no errors,†Aces head coach Mat Mundell said. “Morgan did a great job in the circle while the offensive was able to execute with some good sacrifice hits and timely hitting.â€
Northern Illinois (9-10) struck first as a Kayti Grable single gave the Huskies a 1-0 lead in the top of the first. Florey made sure that lead was short-lived as she hit a long home run to right field in the bottom of the frame. The homer brought home Hay, who had a 1-out single in the inning.
After NIU tied it up in the top of the third, the Aces took the lead right back in the bottom half of the inning. Brittany Hay led off with a triple to right-center and came home on a sacrifice fly by Michal Luckett.
Evansville added an insurance run in the fifth when Hay scored her third run of the game on a single by Chandra Parr. From there, Florey took care of business in the circle. She allowed just one hit in the final three innings en route to her sixth victory of the season.
Florey gave up two runs on six hits for UE while striking out 14 and walking one batter. Alex Frenz took the loss for NIU. She gave up three earned runs in two innings of work.
This weekend, UE will open up Missouri Valley Conference play against Loyola. A Saturday doubleheader at noon begins the action before a single game on Sunday, which starts at 11 a.m.
