EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Softball completed a series sweep of Tennessee State University on Monday afternoon, defeating the Tigers by a score of 6-1 at USI Softball Field.
USI Softball (6-14, 3-0 OVC) picked up its third straight win and moved to a 3-0 start in Ohio Valley Conference play. Meanwhile, Tennessee State (0-13, 0-3 OVC) still remains without a win on the season.
On Monday, the Screaming Eagles got off to another fast start with three runs in the bottom of the first inning to take a 3-0 lead. USI took advantage of miscues by the Tigers and capped off the first inning scoring on a sac fly by junior outfielder
Kate Satkoski.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, USI added another three-spot by scoring a run in three consecutive at-bats to go in front 6-0. The scoring started on an RBI double by senior outfielder
Caroline Stapleton that scored junior designated player
Shelby Stivers. After scoring the fifth run on a Tigers error, junior infielder
Sydney Long drove in Stapleton for the sixth run on an RBI single. Stapleton finished with two runs and two hits in the contest.
While Tennessee State avoided a 6-0 shutout with a run in the top of the seventh inning, the Screaming Eagles closed out the game and series sweep.
On a pitching staff day for the Screaming Eagles, freshman pitcher
Anna Kemp (2-5) set the tone with two shutout innings and earned her second win of the season. Sophomore pitcher
Kylie Witthaus had a strong outing in middle relief, going 4.2 innings and striking out three. Freshman pitcher
Elly Robbins struck out the final batter of the game to finish off the series sweep.
Tennessee State had three pitchers toss two innings each, with Tianna Salcido (0-7) making the start and being charged with the loss after giving up three runs through the first two frames.
After the announcement of Wednesday's postponement for the road game at the University of Kentucky, USI Softball will next return to action this weekend with a three-game OVC road series at Western Illinois University. Saturday's doubleheader and Sunday's series finale from Macomb, Illinois, are both slated for Noon starts. All three games can be seen with an ESPN+ subscription. Additional coverage and live stat links are available on the USI Softball schedule page on usiscreamingeagles.com.
