Springfield, Mo. – Evangel avenged an early season loss on Friday by sweeping Central Baptist (Ark.) in a doubleheader winning a 8-0 in game one in five innings and 5-0 in game two.  

Evangel took the lead in the bottom of the second inning of game one. Kasie Zukow led off the inning with a triple and was driven home by Caitlin Buckalew's triple. Buckalew then scored on Kiara Carrier's sacrifice fly. Evangel would then score one more in the third, four in the fourth inning and the game winning run in the bottom of the fifth on Zukow's RBI triple. The win marked the ninth time Evangel has won a run-rule shortened game this season. 

Michaela Tolliver (8-4) threw five scoreless innings for Evangel allowing only three hits and no walks while striking out five. Kasie Zukow hit three triples going 3 for 3 with two runs and an RBI. 

Evangel also scored two runs in the bottom of the second in game two. Caitlin Buckalew led off the inning with a single and scored on Kiara Carrier's double to the left-center field gap. After advancing to third on the throw to the plate, Carrier then scored on a ground ball by Megan Washam. Evangel tacked on one run in the fifth and two runs in the sixth to secure the lead. 

Kyra Parker (9-3) won her ninth straight start and threw seven scoreless innings striking out seven while allowing only four hits and no walks. Carrier, Washam, Jillian Belieu and Michelle Sheppard all had RBIs for Evangel. Sheppard went 2 for 3 with a triple and a run scored. 

On Feb. 27, Central Baptist got an 8-7 win in 8 innings over Evangel in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Since that loss, the Crusaders have won 16 of their last 18 games. Evangel has also recorded four shutouts in their last five games.  

After Friday's sweep, Evangel improved to 19-7 while Central Baptist dropped to 13-23. 

Evangel returns to Heart of America conference play on Saturday when they travel to Baldwin City, Kansas to take on Baker. First pitch for the doubleheader is scheduled for 1pm.

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