UE softball defeats Bellarmine to complete weekend
Aces earn another split
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Eliza Piggott went 3-5 with two RBI to pace the University of Evansville softball team to a 7-4 win over Bellarmine in Sunday’s weekend finale at Knights Field.
Game 1 – Ball State 14, UE 6
Ball State scored 10 of the first 11 runs and pulled away for a 14-6 win over the Purple Aces in Sunday’s opener. After recording the first run of the game in the top of the first, the Cardinals plated five in the second and four in the third.
Jess Willsey led the second inning off with a double and scored UE’s first run of the game on a double by Taylor Howe. UE added two more in the bottom of the third on a 2-run single by Morgan Adams to make it a 10-3 game.
In the fourth, RBI hits by Kynadee Warner and Niki Bode saw Evansville cut the deficit to five at 10-5. The Aces looked for more, but stranded the bases loaded. Ball State put the game out of reach with a 4-run seventh to pull away. Willsey added an RBI double in the 7th to make it a 14-6 final.
Bode and Willsey posted three hits apiece as the Aces outhit the Cardinals by a 12-11 final. Elle Jarrett made the start and gave up 10 runs, nine earned, in 2 2/3 innings. Kate Ridgway tossed the final 3 1/3 with four runs scoring.
Game 2 – UE 7, Bellarmine 4
Scoring three runs in the fifth and three more in the seventh, the Aces completed the weekend with a 7-4 win over Bellarmine.
After Callie Meinel scored the opening run of the game in the top half of the second, the Knights matched it with a run in the third. The game remained tied at 1-1 until the Aces scored three times in the fifth. Eliza Piggott hit a leadoff home run while Miriah Powell and Kynadee Warner added RBI hits to put UE in front by a score of 4-1.
Evansville added three runs in the top of the seventh Jess Willsey hit a 2-run single before Piggott’s RBI single put the Aces in front at 7-1. Looking for a rally in the bottom of the inning, the Knights scored three runs and looked to get even closer, but Sydney Weatherford got out of the jam as Bellarmine stranded the bases loaded to end the game.
Gracie Hollingsworth made the start, allowing one run on two hits in six innings on the way to her fourth win of the season. Weatherford tossed the final frame. UE is back in action on Wednesday with a doubleheader at Lindenwood.
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