BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Austin Peay's softball team had some chances late in their championship contest versus Evansville at the Hilltopper Spring Fling Tournament Sunday afternoon at the WKU Softball Complex, but its rally came up short in a 5-2 final.
Austin Peay (6-7) dug itself into an early hole versus the Purple Aces, getting down 5-0 after three innings, but in the top of the fifth inning Brooke Pfefferle and Natalie Schilling drew back-to-back walks, followed by back-to-back RBI singles from Kacy Acree and Danielle Liermann to make it 5-2.
A walk to Carly Mattson would load the bases, but Evansville got Emily Harkleroad to ground out to end the threat.
The Govs also had opportunities in the second, third and sixth innings with runners getting into scoring position but they couldn't push any additional runs across.
Pfefferle, Bailey Shorter and Eric Inagaki also recorded hits versus Evansville.
Austin Peay will be off until next Saturday, then it travels to Johnson City to play in the Buccaneer Classic, hosted by East Tennessee State University.
Follow the Govs softball team on Austin Peay's official athletics website Let'sGoPeay.com or on Twitter @AustinPeaySB.
Inside the boxscore
- The game was the Govs first in-season tournament championship game appearance since 1994, when they won the Middle Tennessee Invitational.
- Morgan Rackel recorded a team and career single-game high 10 strikeouts out of the bullpen.
- With her single in the fifth inning, Kacy Acree extended her consecutive-game hit streak to 11 games, dating back to the final two games of 2017.
- Danielle Liermann is the only Governor to reach base in every game this season.
Coaching Quotables with Head Coach Rodney DeLong
On slow start
"It's hard when you fall behind a good pitcher like that and that was probably the most disappointing thing about today. I do like, in falling behind five runs, we put ourselves back into position with a chance to win the game. I'm proud of the grit and how we gave ourselves a chance to compete in that game."
On Morgan Rackel's effort out of the bullpen
"Morgan came in and kept us close and that allowed us to get into position to have some chances but just missed out on a couple of two-out hits."
On a week to get ready for the Buccaneer Classic
"We're looking forward to this week of practice and it looks like we're going to get to practice outside all week, something we haven't been able to do that all year. We're going to have a good week of practice and get after it on Saturday."
--AP--
