CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – After trailing for the first five innings, Sunday, Austin Peay State University's softball team took advantage of a Southeast Missouri error to score four times in the sixth inning and rally for a 6-2 Ohio Valley Conference victory at the Southeast Softball Complex.

With the victory, Austin Peay (16-16, 5-4 OVC) wins its second OVC series of the year, improving to 2-1-1 in conference matchups.

Down 2-1 to Southeast Missouri (7-18, 2-5 OVC), with six outs left, Mel Pavel reached on a one-out single, with Taylor Mills being brought in to pinch run.

Mills moved to second on an infield out followed by Vinchenza DiBenedetto being hit by a pitch, putting the go-head run on base.

That brought up Laurel Burroughs, who hit a slow roller that SEMO third baseman Haylee Krack bobbled, with Mills hustling around to score the tying run.

That opened the flood gates for the Lady Govs as Kristin Whitmire followed with an RBI-single and Amanda De Vries ripped a two-RBI double into right-center field giving Austin Peay a 5-2 advantage.

Whitmire, De Vries and Kayla Davidson all finished with two hits each for the Lady Govs.

Lauren de Castro (11-6) took it from there, holding the Redhawks scoreless over the last two innings, although there was some anxious moments--the senior escaped a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the bottom of the seventh inning for the victory.

Overall, de Castro allowed five hits and two first-inning runs in the win while striking out nine and walking four.

In two weekend starts, de Castro struckout 20 Redhawks in 14 innings of work, including a career-high 11 on Saturday.

The Lady Govs added an insurance run in the top of the seventh on a de Castro sacrifice fly, scoring Marissa Lake, who had opened the inning with a single.

The Redhawks opened the game with two runs in the bottom of the first. Krack reached on a two-out walk to start the rally and scored the game's first run on Lindsey Patterson's double.

Savannah Carpenter than reached on a walk with Rachael Duncan knocking in Patterson with a single to center for a 2-0 advantage.

Austin Peay's initial run came in the top of the fifth inning, with De Vries reaching on a two-out single and scoring all the way around from first base on a Rikki Arkansas.triple to left field.

The Lady Govs return to action Wednesday, as they step out of OVC play for a non-conference doubleheader at the University of Memphis.

The next Lady Govs home games come Saturday when they host OVC opponent Jacksonville State University at Cheryl Holt Field.

--AP--