Aces open home schedule next weekend
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ROSEMONT, Ill. – Pitching was the story of the day for the University of Evansville softball team, who earned a 4-0 shutout win over Detroit Mercy before dropping a 2-1 game to DePaul to complete the season-opening DePaul Dome Classic on Saturday.
GAME 1 – UE 4, Detroit Mercy 0
Elle Jarrett and Erin Kleffman combined to throw a 5-hit shutout over Detroit Mercy. The Titans out-hit the Purple Aces by a 5-4 final but it was a 3-run top of the fourth that made the difference in the game.
Efficient baserunning by Taylor Howe got UE on the board. After drawing a leadoff walk, Howe stole second and advanced to third on a groundout by Zoe Frossard. She would break the scoreless tie when Marah Wood reached on an error. Wood picked up a steal of her own and pushed the lead to 2-0 on a single by Jess Willsey. Alexa Davis picked up the third run of the frame when she tripled before coming home on a wild pitch.
An insurance run was added in the 5th when Howe reached on a Titan error to plate Lacy Smith, who picked up a leadoff single. From there, Kleffman held Detroit Mercy to two hits as she clinched the victory,
GAME 2 – DePaul 2, UE 1
Evansville had its first scoring opportunity in the top half of the second when Hannah Hood belted a 1-out ground rule double. A wild pitch advanced her to third, but DePaul picked up the final two outs to keep the Aces scoreless. Sydney Kalonihea and Jess Willsey recorded hits in the 3rd and 4th innings, however, the Blue Demons continued to get the timely outs.
DePaul picked up its first two hits in the 5th and 6th frames with Mikayla Jolly getting out of both unscathed. Things remained scoreless as the game headed into extra innings. International tiebreaker rules saw each team have a runner placed on second base to open the inning. Kalonihea hit a sacrifice fly to right to score Dori Brown to give UE the lead. The Blue Demons limited the Aces to one run and would take advantage in the bottom of the 8th. Back-to-back singles tied the game before DePaul scored the game-winner on a fielder’s choice.
Tri-State Orthopaedics Field at James & Dorothy Cooper Stadium officially opens on Friday when the Aces welcome Green Bay at 12:30 p.m. UE takes on Kansas City in Friday’s second game before playing them on Saturday afternoon. The opening home weekend comes to a close on Sunday against USI.
