PEORIA, Ill. – University of Southern Indiana Softball opened postseason play at the Ohio Valley Conference Softball Championship Tournament on Wednesday with a 1-0 victory over Tennessee Tech University to advance out of the single-elimination round, but the Screaming Eagles fell later in the afternoon against Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, 9-1 in six innings, in the first game of the double-elimination round.
USI Softball (15-31, 11-16 OVC) entered the tournament on Wednesday as the sixth seed, squaring off against seventh-seeded Tennessee Tech (16-33, 11-16 OVC) in the opener of the single-elimination round.
The tournament-opening contest quickly settled into a low-scoring pitcher's duel between Tennessee Tech starting pitcher Emily York and USI sophomore pitcher
Kylie Witthaus. Both pitched around a few scattered hits in the early innings but matched zeroes on the scoreboard through the first five innings.
After Witthaus stranded two Golden Eagles on base in the top of the sixth inning, USI broke through in the bottom of the sixth. A misplay by Tennessee Tech in the field helped put a runner in scoring position for USI. A couple of at-bats later, and with two outs, junior infielder
Sydney Long placed a ball perfectly into right field to allow senior outfielder
Caroline Stapleton to score from third and give USI a 1-0 advantage in what ended up being the game-winning RBI for Long.
The Golden Eagles loaded the bases with two outs in the top of the seventh inning, but Witthaus finished out the complete game shutout with a strikeout to seal the win for the Screaming Eagles.
Witthaus (4-10) struck out five and allowed only five hits in the winning effort. Her counterpart, York (8-15), also went the distance, struck out six, and gave up the lone unearned run on three hits.
The top three of USI's batting order, Stapleton, freshman outfielder
Katelyn Marx, and Long, each tallied a hit.
In the afternoon tilt against SIUE (28-27, 18-9 OVC), the Cougars scratched across a first-inning run and later added on to lead 6-0 through four innings.
USI got on the scoreboard in the top of the fifth inning when sophomore first baseman
Lilly Brown stepped up to the plate after the first batters of the inning reached base. Brown sent a ball back up the middle to score sophomore catcher
Jordan Mackey from second base to trim the deficit to 6-1.
However, SIUE later answered with three runs in the bottom of the sixth to end the ballgame.
In addition to a double by Mackey and Brown's RBI knock, Stapleton also tallied a hit, and senior
Olivia Money also notched a double.
Freshman pitcher
Anna Kemp (5-12) was charged with the loss, allowing four runs in 2.1 innings with three strikeouts. Freshman left-hander
Elly Robbins pitched the next three innings, striking out a pair and giving up five runs and three earned. Witthaus returned to action for a third of an inning.
SIUE starting pitcher Avery Arwood (13-6) went five innings in the win, surrendering a run off four hits before handing the ball off to Mia Volpert for one scoreless inning.
The Screaming Eagles will play again on Thursday at approximately 5:30 p.m. at OSF Healthcare Stadium at the Louisville Slugger Complex in Peoria, Illinois. USI will play in an elimination game against either No. 1 seed Eastern Illinois University or No. 5 seed Southeast Missouri State University, which face off earlier in the day.
All OVC Tournament games will be streamed with an ESPN+ subscription. Additional coverage links can be found on the USI Softball schedule page on usiscreamingeagles.com.
