Aces look for series sweep on Sunday
 All three facets of the game were working well as the University of Evansville softball team used strong pitching, solid defense and timely hitting contributed to a doubleheader sweep for the Purple Aces over Loyola on Saturday at Cooper Stadium.
“This is a great way to start Valley play with two wins,†UE head coach Mat Mundell said. “Our pitching staff did great job, the defense made some outstanding plays and our bats came alive with some timely hits and our outs were hard outs. It is just a great day for our program.â€
By clinching the series, UE (10-12, 2-0 MVC) won its first MVC-opening series since 2008. In a pitchers duel in game one, Evansville took a 1-0 win while game to saw the Aces top Loyola (16-6, 0-2 MVC) by a final of 6-2.
Morgan Florey was on point in game one, striking out eight batters through four innings while not allowing a baserunner. Loyola made its first big threat in the top of the fifth, putting runners on second and third with one out. Michal Luckett made a huge play to finish the inning as she dove to grab a liner and threw out the runner at second to keep the score knotted up at 0-0.
Evansville recorded four hits through the first five frames, but a pair of walks saw the Aces put runners on first and second. That is when Chandra Parr came through as a single through the right side plated Michal Luckett to give UE a 1-0 lead. Florey got it done from there, going the distance allowing just one hit while striking out 11 to give UE the win. Evansville outhit Loyola, 5-1, in the game. Parr finished with two of those hits.
In the second game, the Aces offense wasted no time getting on the board. Luckett hit a home run to right field in the bottom of the first to put UE on the board. The defense took over in the top of the second as Luckett grabbed a ground ball and turned it into an inning-ending double play with two Loyola runners on base.
The Ramblers saw their first run of the day cross the plate in the top of the third on a Jordyn Cordell single up the middle to tie it up but UE quickly fought back. Brittany Hay led the bottom of the third off with a double and Luckett made it a 2-for-2 start from the plate as she doubled to center to plate Hay and give UE a 2-1 lead.
Three more UE runs crossed the plate as Morgan Florey had an RBI while Morgan Lambert brought in two runs. The lead was extended even more in the bottom of the fourth when Michal Luckett registered an RBI double to make it a 6-1 game. Loyola added a run in the fifth as the final was a 6-2 Aces win.
UE outhit Loyola by an 11-4 margin in the second game as Lucket was a perfect 3-3 with 3 RBIs and two runs scored. Hay, Florey and Lambert each finished with two hits apiece.
Tomorrow, the Aces look for the series sweep at 11 a.m.
