The UTM softball team continued to find success on the road, picking up its fifth straight win away from home with a non-conference victory at Missouri Valley Conference foe Evansville by a final score of 6-2 on Tuesday afternoon.
The Skyhawks (18-7) picked up 10 hits on the afternoon while hitting a pair of home runs to secure the victory. Shyanne Sheffield led the way for the visitors with three hits on the day – including her first home run of the season – while driving in two RBIs. The trio of Kaitlyn Kelley, Paige Clark and Maddi Long also had big afternoon with multiple base hits.
On the pitching side, Alexis Groet (8-2, 1.27 ERA) continued her dominance in the circle. Groet recorded her sixth win in her last seven appearances after striking out six and allowing one hit in five shutout innings of work. Erin Gallagher pitched in relief, allowing two runs in two innings.
The game got off to a slow start with neither team finding its groove offensively through the first four innings. The Skyhawks would finally breakthrough in the top of the fifth after Long led off the frame with a single to left field before being replaced for pinch-runner Emily Alexander. Following a sacrifice bunt to move Alexander into scoring position, the freshman would come around to score on the following at-bat off an RBI single by Chelsey Gore to put the Skyhawks on the board. Then with deuces, wild featuring two outs and a 2-2 count on the scoreboard, the two-hole hitter Sheffield cranked a two-run home run to left field for her first home run of the season to put UTM up 3-0.
UTM added another run in the top of the sixth after Clark parked an opposite-field double in the right-field gap with one out. With the speedster in scoring position, Long came through with her second hit of the day – this time through the left side – to drive in Clark to push the margin out to four runs.
Evansville ended the shutout in the bottom of the sixth inning with timely hitting and baserunning. A leadoff double by Hood spelled trouble and was then followed by a hit by pitch. An innocent groundout moved both runners into scoring position where Wood then drove in the Purple Aces first run with a single through the left side. Then on the following at-bat with a runner still standing at third, Barela drove in McLean with a sacrifice fly to make the score 4-2 heading into the seventh inning.
The Skyhawks looked to get those runs back in the top of the seventh and did exactly that. With two outs on the board, Sheffield lined a double to left center to set up Kelley for a two-run home run to left field. The homer marked the 12th of the season for Kelley as she now sits tied for fourth in the program’s single-season history with Cindy Sturgill’s 1996 campaign.
UTM will look to continue its winning ways on the road this weekend with a three-game Ohio Valley Conference series at SIUE beginning on Friday, Apr. 2-3.
