Evansville defeats Alabama State, falls to Troy
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TROY, Ala. – In Saturday’s action at the Trojan Invite, the University of Evansville softball team split a pair of games, defeating Alabama State by a 2-0 final before falling to Troy by a 5-4 final in walk-off fashion in game two.
“I am extremely proud of the way our ladies played today,†Aces head coach Mat Mundell said. “In the first game, our pitching was amazing. Against Troy, I thought we were the aggressors all game. We battled on every single pitch, which is a theme for the season. If we play like that, we will have a fun year.â€+
Morgan Lambert recorded three of UE’s four hits in game one, going a perfect 3-3 from the plate while knocking in both of the Aces’ runs. Amanda Blankenship got the job done with her pitching, allowing just one hit in her five innings of work.  She struck out six batters. Morgan Florey went the final two innings, fanning four on her way to the save.
Evansville grabbed the lead in the bottom of the first. Danielle Freeman reached the base paths via a double and was brought home on a 2-base hit from Lambert. Blankenship kept the Hornets off the board as the Aces continued to hold the 1-0 lead until the 6th inning. That is when Lambert struck again. With one out, she posted her first home run of the season to give the Aces a 2-0 lead heading into the 7th. Florey finished it up from there, sitting ASU down in order to clinch the win.
In game two, a battle down to the wire saw Troy walk it off to take a 5-4 win. Evansville opened the scoring in the top of the second as Olivia Cheatham singled to right to plate Kristin Koepke. Another run was added in the next frame as Chandra Parr doubled to center to score Danielle Freeman.
Troy remained scoreless until the bottom of the fourth when a 3-run home run saw them take a 3-2 advantage. In the next half inning, the Aces tied it right back up as a Lambert ground out scored Tess Hupe, who walked earlier in the inning. Two innings later, a Freeman single put the lead back into UE’s hands, but two Troy runs in the bottom of the inning saw them grab the walk-off win.
