EVANSVILLE, Ind.—The University of Southern Indiana softball team scored three times in the bottom of the fifth inning to rally from a 2-0 deficit and defeat No. 4-ranked and GLVC-front runner Southern Illinois University Edwardsville in the second game of a doubleheader Tuesday. The victory completed a sweep of the Cougars after USI's 5-3 triumph in game one.

USI (29-14, 11-5 GLVC), which moved to fourth in the latest NCAA II Great Lakes Region, jumped out to a 2-0 lead in game one after senior pitcher Lindsey McNaughton's (Carmel, Indiana) solo home run, the team-leading fourth of the season, and junior utility player Nikki Nichol's (Henderson, Kentucky) RBI single in the bottom of the second inning.

Nichols, who was 2-for-3 in the game, scored in the fourth inning to put the Eagles up 3-1 when senior shortstop Krista Nugent (Hurricane, Utah) hit a triple into the right-centerfield gap.

SIU Edwardsville (39-7, 13-3 GLVC), however, scored twice in the top of the sixth inning to tie the contest, but left three runners on base including the go-ahead run.

USI capitalized on the Cougar's missed opportunity and a costly error by shortstop Kaeleigh Rouse to score twice in the bottom of the sixth inning and take a 5-3 lead. Once again, Nugent, who was 2-for-3 on the day, came through with an RBI single in the inning. Freshman rightfielder Lacey Ligmanowski (Homer Glen, Illinois) followed with a sacrifice fly.

The two runs gave McNaughton (13-8) all she would need to pick up the victory. She gave up three runs and held the Cougars to just four hits.

Following the victory in game one, USI found itself in a 2-0 hole and struggling to get anyone on base. SIUE pitcher Kaitlin Colosimo retired the first 10 batters she faced before sophomore leftfielder Kathy Wood (Lynnville, Indiana) reached on an infield single in the fourth.

USI, however, broke through in the fifth inning, recording back-to-back singles to start the inning and set up freshman centerfielder Ally McKinley (Sullivan, Indiana) for an RBI double down the leftfield line. Nugent drove in the tying run two batters later with a sacrifice fly to centerfield and Ligmanowski put the Eagles on top during the next at-bat with a two-out, RBI single through middle of the infield.

Senior pitcher Missy Grover (Mishawaka, Indiana) earned the win after giving up two runs off just two hits. Grover (16-6), who retired eight straight batters at one juncture, had five strikeouts and three walks in seven innings of work.

The Eagles return to action Saturday when they travel to Quincy, Illinois, to take on Quincy University in a GLVC doubleheader.