Huntsville, Ala. – Austin Peay State University's softball team ran its current win streak to four games, Wednesday afternoon, as it swept the Alabama A&M Lady Bulldogs by scores of 15-6 and 4-0.

The Lady Govs (8-11) fell behind 1-0 after one inning of play against the Lady Bulldogs, in the opener, but rallied to score a season-high 15 runs by scoring at least two runs in each of the last five innings of play.

Austin Peay would use the long ball to score its first four runs, with Kayla Davidson hitting a two-run blast in the top of the third inning – also scoring Rikki Arkansas who had singled to open the inning --  to make it 2-1.

An inning later, Niya Sparks was hit by a pitch to start the fourth inning, followed by Laurel Burroughs first home run of the season to put APSU up 4-1.

A four-run fifth inning by Austin Peay would break the game open, highlighted by a two-run triple to straight-away center field by Arkansas to score Courtney Brower and Burroughs, while Brower had an RBI single in the inning – scoring Sparks.

Arkansas would lead Austin Peay with three hits in Game 1.

Alabama A&M (8-13) would try to respond by scoring two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning, to cut the Lady Govs lead to 8-3, but Austin Peay answered right back with three runs in the top of the sixth to extend its lead out to eight runs, 11-3.

The Lady Bulldogs plated two more runs in the bottom of the inning, to make it 11-5, but they would get no closer with the Lady Govs recording their second four-run inning of the game in the seventh.

Mel Pavel – who leads the Lady Govs this season with 16 RBIs – drove in two of the seventh-inning runs with a single, while Taylor Mills also drove in a run with a single to right field.

Alabama A&M would tack on one final run in the bottom of the seventh, but it was far too little too late, as the Lady Govs took Game 1, 15-6.

Game 2 saw the Lady Govs jump out early, as they scored four times in the top of the first inning by taking advantage of three hits and two A&M errors.

Davidson opened the game by reaching on an error, moved to second base on a sacrifice by Christina Beam, and scored on a single by Kristin Whitmire.

Whitmire reached base all three times in the nightcap, with two singles and a base on balls.

Pavel would also record an RBI single in the inning, while the other two runs scored by Austin Peay came via a wild pitch and a throwing error.

That would be all the runs that Austin Peay starting pitcher Brianna Bartuccio would need, as she picked up her first collegiate shutout, holding the Lady Bulldogs to four hits and not allowing a runner to reach second base until the fifth inning.

Austin Peay returns to action this Saturday, as they travel to Oxford, Ohio to face the Miami (Ohio) Redhawks in a doubleheader scheduled to begin at 3 p.m.

--AP--