Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 Game 1: Benedictine 7, Evangel 4 | Box Score
Game 2: Evangel 8, Benedictine 0 | Box Score
Records: Evangel (26-11, 15-10); Benedictine (31-15, 19-11)
Location: University Field
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Evangel built an early six-run lead, giving Abby Jo Emmitt all the support she would need in completing a 6-0 blanking of Benedictine to salvage the second game of a Heart of America Athletic Conference doubleheader Friday afternoon at University Field.
Emmitt worked a six-inning, complete game to notch her 13th victory of the season, while Ali Raley went a combined 4-for-7 with three RBIs in the twin bill.
Game 1 – Benedictine 7, Evangel 4
Benedictine wasted little time in gaining the upper hand in the opener, erupting for four first-inning runs, thanks in large part to Lenae Salinas' two-out, three-run homer.
Megan Medhus, who led the Ravens with a 3-for-4 effort at the plate, sparked the first-inning surge with a leadoff single, before Blair Shanks and Madison Zaccardo delivered back-to-back singles to load the bases.
Next, Clare Heitz chopped a fielder's choice grounder deep in the hole at short to bring in the first run of the game, and Salinas unloaded on a Bridget Rippe offering and drove a three-run shot over the wall in left-center field for a 4-0 Ravens lead.
Evangel responded with a single run in the home half of the first after putting its first three hitters of the game aboard. Megan Stone reached via a hit by pitch, and Ashlie Marshall and Raley each came through with base hits to produce the first EU run of the day.
The Ravens added to their lead with runs in the second and third frames, however. A one-out walk and a Medhus double to left center chased home the fifth BC run in the second, before back-to-back singles by Zaccardo and Heitz set up Kaitlyn Fanning's run-scoring squeeze bunt.
Evangel added a run in the second on a Kristyn Stocks home run, but wouldn't score again until the sixth after Benedictine plated an insurance run in the top half of the inning on yet another run-producing hit by Medhus.
EU pushed home a run on Abigail Posten's two-out single to left in the sixth, then used Stone's one-out homer in the seventh to mount one final threat. Raley was hit by a pitch and Kaydran Russell added a two-out hit, but BC's Alex Gilham coaxed a game-ending fielder's choice bouncer to third off the bat of Holt to extinguish the EU rally.
Abby Pressgrove (9-8) earned the victory with 6 1/3 strong innings, allowing three earned runs on eight EU hits, and Gilham locked up her third save of the season.
Stocks and Leeviraphan led EU with two hits apiece, while Ashland Diggs struck out five Ravens and allowed just one run in her 4.0 innings of relief.
Game 2 – Evangel 8, Benedictine 0 (6 inn.)
Evangel turned the tables on the Ravens in game two, striking for six runs over the first three innings before relying on the pitching of Emmitt to post the run-rule victory.
Emmitt (13-3) was in control in the circle throughout the contest, scattering six hits while fanning nine BC hitters in picking up her 32nd career win.
Raley powered the EU offense with a 3-for-4 effort at the plate, including a key two-run double that highlighted her club's second-inning rally that turned a one-run game into a 4-0 Evangel lead. In all, the junior catcher drove in three runs, while Stone added a pair of hits and scored three runs for EU.
Stone sparked Evangel's first-inning rally with a leadoff single, marking the first of three-consecutive hits to start the inning for the home club. Stocks drove in the first run of the game with her fielder's choice ground ball to second, giving EU a 1-0 advantage.
In the second, a Mariah Hanner single started another Evangel threat, as Raley doubled home a pair with her shot into the right-center field gap, before Stocks added an RBI single to hike the lead to four runs.
Kami Holt's base hit set the tone in the third, before Stone's two-out single produced the first of two EU runs in the inning. A fielding error moments later on Kaydran Russell's bouncer to first allowed the sixth EU run of the game to cross the plate.
The Ravens never seriously threatened the lead, with Emmitt allowing just three baserunners to reach scoring position. The right-hander struck out the side in the second and fifth innings as well.
Evangel put the game on ice in the home half of the sixth, using a pair of two-out, RBI-singles from Holt and Hanner to seal the outcome.
Hanner and Holt each finished 2-for-4 to compliment the performances of Stone and Raley, while Marissa Lokey added reached base safely in each of her three trips to the plate, finishing 2-for-2 with a walk.
Up Next
Evangel will travel to Marshall, Mo., for a 1 p.m. Heart Conference doubleheader with Missouri Valley on Saturday (April 24).
For the latest information on Evangel Athletics, visit Facebook at Facebook.com/EUAthletics, Twitter (@EUAthletics), or EvangelAthletics.com. Fans can also receive updates on their favorite EU teams by downloading the new Evangel Athletics Gameday App through Google Play.
–EvangelAthletics.com–
