CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Austin Peay and Murray State split its Ohio Valley Conference doubleheader Saturday afternoon, with the Lady Govs taking the opener 6-5, while Murray State won the nightcap 12-2, on a day that APSU's on-campus softball facility was renamed Cheryl Holt Field in honor of APSU's first head softball coach and current senior women's administrator/assistant athletics director.

The Lady Govs (9-29, 4-12 OVC) would use the emotion of the dedication to carry them to an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning, as Shelby Norton and Jessica Ryan recorded singles in the inning, with Ryan's hit driving in Norton.

Murray State (12-20, 5-10 OVC) would rally to take the lead in the third inning on a three-run homer from Jenna Bradley and extended it to 4-1 in the fourth on an Ellyn Troup home run.

The Lady Govs responded in the bottom of the fourth by taking advantage of a Racer error, which eventually led to a three-run opposite-field home run by Ryan to tie the game at 4-4. Ryan was 3-for-3 in Game 1, with four RBI.

Austin Peay wasn't done, scoring twice more in the inning - on Randal Davenport's double down the left-field line and Caitlyn Anderson's infield single - to take a 6-4 lead.

The Racers scored a run in the top of the seventh, on a double by Bradley, to cut the Lady Govs lead to one, but that would be as close as they would get with Ashley Bolda (3-7) getting the final out to seal the victory.

The nightcap wasn't so kind to the Lady Govs, with Murray State scoring six first-inning runs on four hits, four walks, a hit batter and an Austin Peay error.

Highlighting the scoring in the inning for the Racers was Leslie Bridges two-run double.

Murray State recorded its second six-run inning in the third to make it 12-0.

Austin Peay finally got on the board with two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning - on RBI singles by Norton and Amanda De Vries.

The two teams will play the finale of the three-game series, 1 p.m., Sunday with a single game.

-AP-