BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – For the first time since defeating #17 Illinois State in 2007, the University of Evansville softball team defeated a ranked opponent to open the Hilltopper Spring Fling on Friday. The Purple Aces held on to take a 7-5 win over 24
th-ranked Kentucky to open the weekend before defeating Tennessee Tech in the second game of the day.
Game 1 – UE 7, #24 Kentucky 5 - Box Score
Scoring seven runs in the bottom of the first, the Purple Aces held off a late challenge to defeat 24
th-ranked Kentucky by a final of 7-5
Evansville opened the game with a 7-run bottom of the first. A pair of walks set up the scoring opportunity for Taylor Howe, who singled down the left field line to bring in the first run of the game. Niki Bode followed with a sac fly to bring in the second run of the day. Three 2-out hits saw the lead expand even more. Kynadee Warner singled to left to bring in Howe while Jenna Donohoo followed with a 2-run double to right center. Eliza Piggott capped things off with a 2-run home run to make it a 7-0 game.
Kentucky quickly responded with three runs in the top half of the second. Neither team would record a hit until the top of the 5
th when the Wildcats plated two more runs to cut the deficit to just two. UK looked to add more in the sixth as they posted a pair of hits before Aces starter Kate Ridgway kept them off the board.
Warner registered her second hit of the day in the bottom of the 6
th, but the deficit remained at two runs heading to the 7
th. Ridgway retired the Wildcats in order to seal the win. She tossed the entire game and allowed five runs on five hits while striking out four batters on the way to her third win of the season. Evansville had five hits on the day with Warner picking up two.
Game 2 – UE 4, Tennessee Tech 0 - Box Score
Elle Jarrett threw a complete game 2-hit shutout to lead the Purple Aces to a 4-0 win over Tennessee Tech to wrap up the day on Friday. Evansville did not take long to score as Keghan Pye gave her team a 1-0 lead. Pye reached on a walk and advanced to second on a passed ball. When Taylor Howe reached on a TTU error, Pye scored from second base.
Tennessee Tech picked up a hit in the first inning but would not pick up another until the 6
th as Jarrett took care of business in the circle. The lone baserunner for the Golden Eagles between the 2
nd and 5
th reached on an error.
The score remained at 1-0 until the bottom of the 5
th when UE picked up some insurance. Pye and Jess Willsey both reached on a walk before Morgan Adams acme to the plate and delivered a 3-run home run with two outs to push the lead to four. From there, Jarrett kept the shutout intact to lead UE to its fifth win in a row and a sweep of the day.
Saturday will see UE face Tennessee Tech and Western Kentucky.
