Softball defeats Miami Ohio to earn opening day split

UE takes on WIU and IUPUI on Saturday

Taking on one of the best teams the Mid-American Conference has to offer, the University of Evansville softball team opened its season with a 2-1 win over Miami Ohio before falling in a 3-2 contest to Butler at the Total Control Sports Invitational at The Dome.

“I am extremely proud of how the team played today,” Purple Aces head softball coach Mat Mundell said.  “Our pitching staff set the tone for us in both games.  We had great starting and relief pitching.”

“We had some great baserunning and defense to complement the pitching.  Offensively, we are getting there,” Mundell added.  “We took some great swings and will get the bats rolling.”

Game one saw Evansville face the RedHawks, who were the MAC regular season champs last season.  Pitching dominated the contest with both staffs limiting the opposition to just two hits.  Emily Lockhart made the start, going 5 2/3 innings while allowing one run on two hits.  She fanned five batters on her way to the win.  Izzy Vetter was credited with the save, tossing the final four innings.  Vetter struck out three.  Brianna Pratt made the start for Miami and threw four frames.  She gave up two runs on two hits.

UE broke through in the fourth with Eryn Gould crossing the plate on a passed ball.  Halie Fain plated the second run on a bases loaded walk.  From there, Lockhart and Vetter got the job done, allowing one MU run in the sixth before hanging on for the 2-1 win.  Haley Woolf and Jenna Lis had the hits for the Aces while Gould, Jessica Fehr and Lindsay Renneisen each drew a pair of walks.

Another pitchers duel took place in the second game of the day with Butler finishing with a 3-2 win.  The Bulldogs scored twice in the top of the third inning before Evansville got on the board in the bottom half of the fourth.  Junior Eryn Gould connected on her first home run of the season to cut the deficit in half.

Butler added an insurance run in the top of the seventh and it proved to be a big one.  Down to their final three outs, the Aces were primed for a comeback with Haley Woolf starting the inning with a triple before scoring on a sacrifice fly by Renneisen.  With two outs, Katie McLean reached on a double, but the Bulldogs got out of the jam to finish off the game.

Vetter made the start for the Aces, throwing five innings of 4-hit, 2-run ball.  She recorded nine strikeouts.  Freshman Erin Kleffman made her debut in the circle, pitching the final two frames, allowing one run on one hit.  As a team, the Aces notched four hits with Gould, Woolf, McLean and Toni Galas registering one apiece.

Two more games are on the docket for tomorrow with UE facing Western Illinois at 10 a.m. before taking on IUPUI at 3 p.m.