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CLARKSVILLE, Tenn.—Officially the stats say all six of Morehead State’s runs Sunday were unearned. But if you ask coach Holly Bruder, her team fought for and earned every run the Eagles scored through a three-game weekend series.
“My team fought hard all weekend to stay ahead in every game and stay in control,” Bruder said.
The Eagles defeated Austin Peay 6-1 at Lady Govs’ field on Sunday, completing the three-game weekend road sweep of the OVC foe. MSU kept pace with league-leading UT Martin with the win with just nine OVC regular season games left, including a regular-season ending home series with the Skyhawks.
For the second straight game, Sarah Funston picked up a win and Alex Gjevre, who set the Eagle career save record with her sixth save on Saturday, added to that total Sunday. Funston (10-7) allowed just three hits and one run in four innings of work. Gjevre also allowed three hits and struck out six APSU batters, including two in the seventh to help squash a Lady Govs rally attempt.
MSU (23-16; 13-4 OVC)jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the first on an RBI single by Kayla Ashbrook that scored Rebecca Butler. Butler had reached on a fielder’s choice and a pair of Austin Peay errors allowed her to scoot to third, setting up the score.
The Lady Govs fired right back in the bottom of the inning, tying the score on a sacrifice fly by Catie Cozart that scored Jessica Chernak. It was APSU’s only run of the game.
Bethany Ellis, pinch hitting for Anna Sommer, broke the one-all tie with a three-run home run over the right-center fence in the Morehead fourth. The two-out dinger, Ellis’ first of the year, drove in Bianca Cardenas, who reached on a single, and Sam Woodall. Woodall reached on an error that would have been the second out of the inning, forcing all three runs to be scored unearned.
“My girls came out swinging today and pushed a run across the board early. We were tied at one for a couple of big innings until the big homer by Ellis, which was huge,” Bruder said. “We kept swinging after that and earned our way on base by hitting the ball hard and capitalizing on good pitch selection.”
Cardenas snuck onto first in the sixth when APSU first baseman Norton dropped a fly ball. Cardenas then scored two batters later on an Elizabeth Wagner single to right. Kayla Brill followed Wagner with a sac fly that scored Sommer for MSU’s insurance runs.
The Eagles collected seven hits in all, led by Cardenas’ 2-of-3 performance. Ellis contributed three RBIs to the offensive effort.
Ashley Bolda (0-6) took the loss for the Lady Govs (14-28, 6-11 OVC), throwing 2.2 innings, allowing three unearned runs and three hits. Cozart led the APSU offense with two hits and an RBI.
MSU will travel to Western Kentucky for an in-state mid-week doubleheader at 5 p.m. ET Wednesday. The Hilltoppers are 25-16 this season.
