Box Score  
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Evansville softball team fell in the final game of the Missouri Valley Conference weekend series against Wichita State on Sunday by a score of 8-3.
 
The Purple Aces went 1-2 against the Shockers at Cooper Stadium this weekend leading to a 15-18 overall record with a 3-8 record against Valley teams. The Shockers are now 22-15 with a 9-3 MVC record.
 
Head coach Mark Redburn managed to see a bunch of positives even though his team was unable to come away with the series win:
 
"The difference today between a win and a loss was just the team making plays, both in the circle and at the plate. With the hits being nine to seven in favor of Wichita, it wasn't that bad of a loss for us. We need to get ourselves in a good habit, especially when it comes to having two outs on the board. Today we didn't get those outs and we made a few mistakes in the circle and at the plate. I thought one of the big differences for us today was that we chased at the plate and made a few base running errors that ultimately led to the loss. As long as we keep battling we will turn things around."
 
The game started out with a scoreless first inning as Megan Gurski (7-9) and Sloan Anderson (9-10) faced off in the circle for their teams.
 
The Shockers scored first in the top of the second on an RBI by Macklin Hitz the DP, giving the visiting squad an early 1-0 lead.
 
The top of the third was where Wichita would start to pull away as the Shockers scored four runs in the inning as Liz Broyles and Melanie Jaegers both hit a two RBI single to increase the Shockers lead, 5-0.
 
Evansville did not give up though as the Purple Aces added two runs of their own in the bottom of the third as Victoria Dellorto had a ground out RBI and the pitcher Gurski hit an RBI double to cut the Shockers lead 5-2.
 
Gurski held the Shockers scoreless in the top of the fourth and Evansville's Chandra Parr hit a solo homerun to cut WSU's lead to 5-3.
 
The top of the fifth inning saw Wichita State increase their lead as Gurski allowed the Shockers to score three more runs, increasing their lead 8-3 and that would be it for the junior pitcher, as the Aces brought in freshman Danielle Freeman to close out the game.
 
Gurski finished the day throwing 4.0 innings, giving up eight runs and striking out four.
 
Freeman would battle with Kaitlyn Malone from WSU for the final three innings and both pitchers were able to keep the opposing offenses off the board.
 
The freshman from Grand Rapids, Mich., finished the game pitching 3.0 innings, allowing zero runs and struck out two.
 
Up next for Evansville is a trip to Murray, Ky. on Wednesday, April 9 to take on the Murray State Racers in a mid-week doubleheader.