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Austin Peay State University Athletics

Niya Sparks
Brittney Sparn, APSU Athletics
15
Winner Evansville UE 8-30
8
Austin Peay APSU 8-22
Winner
Evansville UE
8-30
15
Final
8
Austin Peay APSU
8-22
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Evansville UE 0 2 2 5 2 4 0 15 16 0
Austin Peay APSU 0 0 6 2 0 0 0 8 12 3

W: Blankenship,Amanda (6-20) L: Hooper, Sidney (2-7)

3
Winner Evansville UE 9-30
2
Austin Peay APSU 8-23
Winner
Evansville UE
9-30
3
Final
2
Austin Peay APSU
8-23
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 R H E
Evansville UE 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 3 11 3
Austin Peay APSU 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 8 4

W: Dopart,Cecilia (1-4) L: Ayala, Natalie (4-8)

Game Recap: Softball | | By Chris Austin

Wins not in the cards for Lady Govs softball versus Purple Aces

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – Austin Peay State University's softball team lost a slugfest and a pitcher's duel versus Evansville, Wednesday, at Cheryl Holt Field, dropping a 15-8 decision in the opener and a 3-2 final -- in eight innings -- in the nightcap.

The Lady Govs (8-23) fell behind the Purple Aces 4-0 after two-and-a-half innings, in Game 1, but rallied for six runs in the bottom of the third to take a 6-4 lead. Evansville (9-30) got the first out in the bottom of the third inning, but Chandler Groves, Laurel Burroughs and Christiana Gable followed with three straight hits to load the bases.That brought up Niya Sparks, who blasted a 1-1 pitch over the center field wall for her seventh home run of the season, which tied the game 4-4.

Morgan Hoeg and Mel Pavel followed the Sparks home run with back-to-back singles, and after a ground out, both scored on a Rikki Arkansas single.

But the Lady Govs couldn't slow the Purple aces offense as they answered right back with five runs of their own in the top of the fourth to take the lead, 9-6.

Austin Peay cut the deficit to one run, 9-8, in the bottom of the inning on a two-run homer by Gable,her seventh this season. But that would be as close as the Lady Govs would get, with Evansville scoring two times in the top of the fifth inning and four more times in the sixth for the 15-8 final.

The Lady Govs got off to a better start in Game 2, jumping out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning on a double off the fence by Vinchenza DiBenedetto, driving in Burroughs, who had singled.

The score remained that way until the top of the fourth inning when Evansville tied the game 1-1 on a two-out double.

The Purple Aces took the lead in the top of the sixth with a run, but Austin Peay answered right back in the bottom of the inning with an RBI double from Groves, bringing in Arkansas, who had opened the inning with a single.

The game would go into extra innings, after both teams failed to score in the seventh--becoming Austin Peay's first extra-inning game this season. .

Evansville pushed across what turned out to be the game-winning run in the top of the eighth when Lady Govs starting pitcher Natalie Ayala hit Chandra Parr with a pitch with the bases loaded to force in a run.

Austin Peay would get the tying run to third, with no outs, but Evansville retired the next three Lady Govs in order to seal away the victory.

--AP--

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