CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – Kayla Davidson drove on four runs while Lauren de Castro recorded her fifth shutout of the season, Wednesday afternoon, as the Lady Govs defeated former Ohio Valley Conference member Middle Tennessee, 8-0, in six innings at Cheryl Holt Field.

Austin Peay (18-21) broke open the game in the bottom of the second inning by scoring five runs on three hits while also being aided by two walks and a hit batter

Niya Sparks opened the inning by drawing a one-out walk, moved to second base on a single by Laurel Burroughs and score on a single by Kristin Whitmire to make it 1-0.

Burroughs, Whitmire and Davidson all recorded two hits each to lead Austin Peay.

Amanda De Vries then walked to load the bases, followed by Courtney Brower being hit by a pitch to force in Burroughs with the second run of the inning.

After Middle Tennessee (7-33) recorded the inning's second out, Davidson blasted a ball over the outstretched glove of Blue Raiders center fielder LaRi Mitchell, driving in De Vries, Brower and Marissa Lake to make it 5-0.

That would be all the runs  de Castro (12-8) needed as she limited the Blue Raiders to four hits – all singles – while striking out two and walking one. The five shutouts for de Castro are the most by a Lady Govs pitcher since the 2007 season.

Middle Tennessee's best scoring chance came in the top of the fifth -- as they loaded the bases with two outs and their number two hitter Samantha Nieves at the plate – but de Castro got her to ground out to Davidson at shortstop to end the threat.

The score remained that way until the bottom of the fifth inning when the Lady Govs closed out the game with three more runs.

Burroughs and Whitmire opened the inning with back-to-back singles followed an out later by Brower being hit by a pitch for the second time in the game to load the bases.

Pinch hitter Christiana Gable then hit a come-backer to MTSU pitcher Caitlin McClure, who missed played the ball for an error allowing all runs to advance, including Burroughs scoring the Lady Govs' sixth run.

Davidson then walked to force in a run, bringing up Mel Pavel, who blasted the ball over Mitchell's head in center field driving in Brower to make it 8-0 and end the game by the eight-rule mercy rule.

The Lady Govs return to action this weekend as the closeout their eight-game homestand with a three-game OVC series against Murray State.

--AP--