Aces take on Belmont and Tennessee State
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EVANSVILLE, Ind. – A quick trip south to Nashville is on tap for the University of Evansville softball team this weekend as they take on Belmont and Tennessee State in a total of four games on Friday and Saturday.
The weekend begins on Friday at Belmont with a doubleheader set for 4/6 p.m. On Saturday, the Purple Aces remain in Nashville where they will take on Tennessee State in a 1:30 p.m. doubleheader.
Evansville opened up the 2017 season last weekend at the Plainsman Invite in Auburn, Ala. The Aces went 1-4 in the tournament, but finished on a high note with a 3-2 win over Creighton. Four out of the five opening games were decided by two or fewer runs. The pitching staff had a nice weekend, notching an ERA of 1.02 while the offense hit .212 to start the season.
Sophomore Morgan Florey tossed the first no-hitter for the program in 13 years, accomplishing the feat in a 3-2 win over Creighton on Sunday. The last no-hitter thrown by a UE player came on February 22, 2004 when Katie Markle did so in a 2-0 win over Tennessee Tech. Florey went the distance in the win, giving up two unearned runs while fanning a career-high 10 batters in the win. For her efforts, she was named the MVC Pitcher of the Week.
Florey threw 20.1 innings in the first weekend and finished with a 0.00 ERA as she did not allow a single earned run. She struck out 25 batters while walking just six.  The opposition batted .079 against her. She also had a nice offense weekend, batting .308 with four hits and a pair of RBIs.
The leading hitter last weekend for the Purple Aces was junior transfer Brittany Hay, who started all five games and batted .313. Hay notched five hits in 16 at-bats while scoring two runs. She also swiped a pair of bases. In Sunday’s victory over Creighton, Hay went 2-4 with a run scored.
After leading the offense with a .312 batting average in 2016, Michal Luckett picked up right where she left off in the tournament at Auburn, batting .308. She recorded four hits in 13 trips to the plate. Luckett completed the weekend with a 1-2 performance in the 3-2 triumph over the Bluejays.
While Hayli Scott recorded just one hit in the first weekend, it was definitely the biggest hit of the tournament for UE. In a pinch hit situation against Creighton, Scott hit a game-winning double, which saw UE finish with the 3-2 win.
Belmont is off to the best start in program history, going a perfect 8-0 so far. Pacing the Bruins at the plate is Lexi Rouse, who has batted .519 with three doubles, two home runs and 12 RBIs. Rouse is also the top pitcher for Belmont, notching an ERA of 1.05 through the opening two weekends of play.
After opening the season with two wins apiece over UMKC and UMBC, Belmont swept the Western Kentucky Hilltopper Classic last weekend, defeating Western Illinois twice along with WKU and Miami Ohio.
Tennessee State is 3-6 on the season with their victories coming over Jackson State (twice) and Jarvis Christian. They went 0-5 in last weekend’s Tiger Classic, falling to Iowa State three times and Alabama A&M twice. Danica Gleason is the top batter for TSU, checking in at .500 with 13 hits in 26 at-bats. She also leads the way with 8 runs and 7 RBI.
