Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 Game 1: Evangel 10, Baker 3 | Box Score
Game 2: Baker 5, Evangel 1 | Box Score
Records: Evangel (27-12, 16-11); Baker (14-12, 12-8)
Location: University Field
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Evangel opened a busy final week of the regular season by splitting a Heart of America Athletic Conference doubleheader with Baker Tuesday afternoon, riding a shutdown pitching performance from Abby Jo Emmitt and a 13-hit attack to a 10-3 opening-game win at University Field.
Baker rebounded behind a strong pitching effort of its own in the second contest, as Skylar Gorrell held EU to four hits in a complete-game, 5-1 win for the Wildcats.
With her game-one win and 14 strikeouts in 9 1/3 combined innings on the day, Emmitt moved into EU's single-season top 15 list for both pitching victories and punchouts.
Game 1 – Evangel 10, Baker 3
Evangel scored four times over the first two innings before withstanding a Baker comeback bid behind a complete-game pitching performance from Emmitt. The EU right-hander struck out 11 Wildcats and allowed just three hits and three runs to notch her 14th victory of the season.
Ali Raley went 3-for-3 and drove in three runs, while Megan Stone went 3-for-4 to help power an Evangel offense that pounded out 13 hits.
EU broke on top with a pair of first-inning runs, capitalizing on a one-out walk to Kaydran Russell and Raley's first hit of the game. A wild pitch brought in the first run of the afternoon, before Marissa Lokey's base hit to center plate a second.
In the second, Evangel added to its lead on Raley's two-out single that produced two more runs. A leadoff fielding error and a Stone single set up the rally against BU starter Makayla Akin.
Emmitt was in control early in the game, striking out six of the first nine hitters of the contest and fanning two batters in each of the first four frames.
But the Wildcats recorded their first hit on Lexi Lowrance's single in the fourth, before Eva Gonzalez cleared the bases with a two-out, three-run double that pulled BU to within 4-3.
Emmitt responded by retiring the next seven Wildcats in succession before a leadoff double in the seventh stopped the string.
Evangel plated a single run in the fifth on Kristyn Stocks' two-out, RBI double, then broke the game open with a five-run sixth that saw EU touch up Akin for six hits. Run-scoring hits by Ashlie Marshall, Russell and Raley, as well as a two-run homer from Mariah Hanner, ultimately stretched the cushion to seven runs.
Game 2 – Baker 5, Evangel 1
Savannah Bray went 3-for-4 with a pair of RBI singles to help Baker pull out the split, while Gorrell (5-4) allowed just one EU run on four hits in her 7.0 innings.
BU plated single runs in the second and third innings against Emmitt (14-4), who started the nightcap for EU as well. Bray singled to initiate the Wildcats' second-inning threat, coming around on Payton Reynolds base hit for the game's first run.
Bray, who finished the day a combined 4-for-7, played a key role in the BU scoring rallies in the third and seventh innings as well. The freshman drove in Makayla Stromenger with her single in the third that gave the Wildcats a 2-0 lead, then brought in another baserunner with a hot shot back up the middle after three consecutive BU hitters reached base with two out in the seventh.
Lowrance and Gonzalez also drove in seventh-inning runs, giving BU a 5-1 advantage and some much-needed breathing room after EU plated its lone run of the game in the fourth after Stocks tripled and scored on Lokey's ground ball to the right side of the infield.
Stone added a base hit to finish her day a combined 4-for-6 at the plate, while Emmitt (14-4) suffered the setback after allowing the first two BU runs on two hits in her 2.1 innings of work.
Up Next
Evangel will travel to Marshall, Mo., Thursday (April 29) for a make-up date with Missouri Valley. The two clubs will square off in a 4 p.m. doubleheader at the Lyon Bowl.
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–
