Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score

Carbondale, Ill. –  The University of Evansville softball team dropped a pair of games in today’s Missouri Valley Conference doubleheader against Southern Illinois. The Aces first fell in a 2-1 heartbreaker in the series opener, as the Salukis made a two-run comeback in the bottom of the seventh to take game one. Southern Illinois then posted a 9-1 run-rule victory, winning in six innings in the nightcap.  

Evansville collected 10 hits on the day as a team. Sophomore Katie Sears led the Aces at the plate, going 3-for-6 and scoring both of the Aces’ runs in the doubleheader.

The Aces (11-28) will return home for a non-conference doubleheader on Thursday against Saint Louis before resuming Valley play with a weekend series at Creighton.

Game 1: UE 1, SIU 2
The Aces were able to jump on the board out of the gate to start the day, using leadoff hit and a pair of errors to take a 1-0 lead in the top of the first. ears hit a soft liner to left to reach base as the leadoff before moving over to second on a sacrifice bunt by junior Tamara Robey. A fielding error at shortstop put freshman Kayla Fortner on base, giving UE runners at first and third. Fortner then stole second, reaching safely as an errant throw allowed Sears to come home on the steal to give UE the 1-0 lead.

Southern Illinois managed to put runners at first in second in the bottom of the second, third and fourth innings, but solid defense combined with a  lights out pitching performance by starter Sarah Patterson managed to get out of the jams unharmed.

With UE still leading 1-0 with one out in the bottom of the sixth inning, a walk, an error and an intentional walk loaded the bases for the Salukis, as SIU threatened as they reached third base for the first time in the game. But Patterson struck out Jayna Spivey before fielding a soft chopper off the bat of Morgan Barchan to end the threat and hang onto the 1-0 lead.

Patterson started the bottom of the seventh with her fifth strikeout of the game, but a high fly ball to left field was lost in the sun by freshman Victoria Dellorto, giving Mallory Duran-Sellers a double with one out on the board. Kelsea Ashton then delivered a single up the middle, scoring Duran-Sellers and tying the game at 1-1. An infield flyout gave UE the second out of the inning, but a walk to Allie VadeBoncouer put the winning run on second base. Head coach Mark Redburn then brought in reliever Taylor Perry to get out of the jam, but Hailey Gorman came through with a clutch grounder up the middle to bring in the winning run on a walk-off single.

Patterson (6-14) took the loss, scattering two runs on five hits in 6.2 innings of work.
 
Game 2: UE 1, SIU 9 (6 innings)
The Salukis wasted no time scoring in game two, using back-to-back singles by Ashton and Taylor Osburn to put runners on board before VadeBoncouer belted a three-run home run to left center to give SIU an early 3-0 lead.

The Aces threatened to answer in the top of the second, as singles by Dellorto and and sophomore Niki Rahming put runners at first and second. A perfectly placed sacrifice bunt by junior Halie Malone moved the runners up to second and third, but SIU starter Brittney Lang managed a groundout to end the inning and maintain the 3-0 lead.

Evansville was able to break up the shutout in the top of the third, as Sears started the inning with a single up the middle. Robey followed with a walk to move Sears to second before a groundout by Fortner put the pair at second and third. Senior Amy Gaertner then came through with a groundout to the right side, scoring Sears to push the score to 3-1.

A leadoff walk in the bottom of the fourth prompted a pitching change from Redburn, as sophomore Emily Morris came in relief of Perry. Back-to-back singles off the bat of Spivey and Alicia Junker were enough to move around the fourth run of the game for the Salukis, as the score went to  4-1. A sacrifice bunt put runners at second and third before a walk loaded the bases for SIU. Ashton then picked up a sacrifice fly, hitting a ball deep to centerfield to bring in a run and extend the lead to 5-1. Another single by Osburn pushed across one more run before a fly out ended the inning with the Salukis leading 6-1. 

A leadoff walk put Duran on base to start the sixth inning, but the Aces quickly retired the next two batters to put two outs on the board. But VadeBoncouer drove a single up the middle to improve the lead to 7-1 before another single and a two-base error in right 1field allowed VadeBoncouer to cross the plate and put the Salukis one run away from the run-rule. Meredith Wilson then delivered a single through the right side to bring in the final run, as the game ended via a 9-1 mercy rule.  

Perry drops to 3-6 on the season after taking the loss in the circle, giving up four runs on four in 3.0 innings on the mound.