Eryn Gould, Brittany Hay and Morgan Florey were the stars of the day, pacing the University of Evansville softball team to a doubleheader sweep of UNI on Sunday at Cooper Stadium. Evansville won both games by a final of 6-2.
Gould notched six hits in seven at-bats while scoring five runs for the Purple Aces (9-18, 2-3 MVC) while Hay hit a 3-run home run in game two that broke a scoreless tie. Florey threw a total of 11 innings on the day, allowing just seven hits and one earned run.
“This was a good series for us, I am really proud of the girls for keeping their focus through all of the weather that we had this weekend,†UE head coach Mat Mundell said. “Our offense played great, even our outs were hard hit balls. We got runners on and were able to get them in. Defensively, we played great and Morgan and Ashleigh did a nice job of keeping UNI’s hitters off balance in the circle.â€
Today’s sweep gave UE its first series win over the Panthers since 2013. In the previous 11 games against UNI entering the day, the Aces were 2-9.
UNI recorded three hits in the first inning, but Aces starter Morgan Florey was able to limit the damage to just one run, which came on a Courtney Krodinger single.
In the bottom of the inning, UE was able to plate two runs. Eryn Gould led off with a double before advancing to third on a Brittany Hay groundout. Next up was Lindsay Renneisen, who delivered a triple to right center field to score Gould. Renneisen gave the Aces the lead, scoring when Florey reached on an error.
Evansville threatened in the second, loading the bases with no outs, but UNI’s Brooke Craig forced a double play that helped her get out of the frame unscathed. UE was able to push a run through in the third when Florey crossed home plate on UNI’s second error of the day. The top half of the fourth saw UNI get that run right back with an unearned run.
For the third time, the Aces added a run on the scoreboard. Gould notched her second hit of the day and came home on a UNI error that came on a Renneisen hit. Evansville picked up some more breathing room in the sixth when Elyse Hickey delivered a 2-RBI double with the bases loaded to make it a 6-2 game.
Florey picked up her fifth win of the season. She gave up three hits in the first, but did not allow a single one for the remainder of the contest. Gould was a perfect 3-3 with three runs scored and a walk while Renneisen notched a pair of hits.
Just as they did in game one, the Panthers grabbed an early lead in the first frame of the second contest, but Evansville followed suit as Eryn Gould led the bottom of the first off with her third home run of the season to knot the score at 1-1. Renneisen would later score on a wild pitch to give the Aces their first lead. Jaclyn Spencer notched an RBI single in the third, which tied the game at 2-2.
Things would remain that way until the fifth frame when Brittany Hay delivered her team-leading fifth home run of the season. Bailee Porter and Eryn Gould scored on the play. Some insurance was added in the sixth as Bailee Bostic singled through the right side to bring home pinch runner Mea Adams to make it the final of 6-2. Florey picked up her second win of the day while Gould posted three more hits.
A trip to Loyola awaits the Purple Aces next weekend as UE faces the Ramblers in Chicago.
