Lady Govs swept by Golden Eagles

APSU Women’s Softball

Cookeville, TN – Austin Peay’s softball team gave up two four-run first innings to Tennessee Tech on Saturday afternoon on its way to being swept by the Golden Eagles by scores of 8-2 and 8-0.

In Game 1, Lady Govs (11-37, 6-20 OVC) sophomore starting pitcher Morgan Brewer gave up four hits – plus hit a batter – in the key opening inning, but two of the hits were tainted at best.

After allowing the first two Tennessee Tech hitters of the game reach via a bunt single and a hit-by-pitch, it looked like Austin Peay got the next Golden Eagle hitter out at first on a bunt attempt, but the runner was called safe – which was ruled a hit — to load the bases.

The Golden Eagles (20-24, 11-14 OVC) then scored their first run on a sacrifice fly by Callie Schmidt, followed by a fielder’s choice for the second out of the inning.

That’s where the next questionable — and backbreaking — call was made.

Brittany Spalding laced a shot down the third base line, which looked to be foul by 12 to 18 inches as it pasted the third base bag, but was ruled fair by the home plate umpire — but not before taking a long pause before making the call with two runs coming in to make it 3-0.

Whitney Cummings closed out the scoring in the inning by driving in Spalding with a single giving Tennessee Tech a 4-0 lead.

It would remain that way until the third inning, when the Golden Eagles scored three more runs to go up 7-0, highlighted by two-run single by Kaleigh Gates.

Austin Peay would get on the board in the sixth inning, scoring twice, as senior Randal Davenport and junior Catie Cozart reached on back-to-back one-out singles, with Davenport scoring on a Golden Eagle error on a ground ball by Amy Mills, with Mills scoring on a single by red-shirt sophomore Jessica Ryan.

Senior Tiffany Smith would have the only other hit for the Lady Govs in the opener.

That would be as close as the Lady Govs would get, as the Golden Eagles tacked on a final run in the bottom of the sixth for the 8-2 final margin.

In Game 2, a two-out error by Lady Govs red-shirt freshman shortstop Kristin Whitmire opened the door for Tech to score four unearned runs.

The first Golden Eagle run scored when the error happened, but the real damage came a batter later, as Whitney Cummings blasted a three-run shot over the center field fence to make it 4-0.

That would be all the runs that Tech starter Claudia Harke would need as she limited the Lady Govs to just two hits, both coming in the third inning on singles by Cozart and Smith.

The Golden Eagles on the other hand would score two more runs in the third and fourth innings for the 8-0 final.

The two teams will conclude their OVC series Sunday with a single game, starting at 1:00pm.