APSU Sports: Austin Peay Women’s Softball
Auburn, AL – Austin Peay State University’s softball team couldn’t get its offense going, on Sunday at the Plainsman Invitational, scoring one run in each game in dropping a 3-1 decision to Furman in the morning and a 9-1 final to host Auburn in the afternoon.
In Game 1, Furman (3-1) would be the first team to get on the scoreboard in the top of the third inning with Taylor Jenkins beating out an one-out infield single to shortstop and moved into scoring position by stealing second base.An out later, Paladins leadoff hitter Stephanie Field laced a 2-1 pitch from Austin Peay (1-3) junior pitcher Lauren de Castro into the gap in left-center field driving in Jenkins.
Field led the Paladins with three hits.
That run broke a string of nine and two-third innings scoreless innings pitched for de Castro.
Austin Peay would respond in the bottom of the inning with junior Amanda De Vries drawing an one-out walk and scoring all the way around from first on a double off the wall in right-center field by senior Jessica Ryan, tying the game 1-1.
Sophomore Laurel Burroughs and de Castro had Austin Peay’s other hits – both infield singles.
The score would remain that way until the top of the sixth, when an error by Burroughs – who was covering first base on a sacrifice – couldn’t hang on to a throw from freshman catcher Mel Pavel allowing pinch runner Alexis Galinski to score from first base to give Furman a 2-1 lead.
The Paladins would tack on an insurance run in the top of the seventh on a RBI single by Field for the 3-1 final margin.
In Game 2, Austin Peay committed two errors in the top of the first inning – after committing three total in its first three games – to allow Auburn to score twice and take a quick 2-0 advantage.
The Lady Govs would respond with a run in the bottom of the inning off a two-out single to left-center field by junior Kayla Davidson, scoring freshman Marissa Lake – who had led off the inning by drawing a walk.
But that was a close as the Lady Govs would get the rest of the way, as Auburn scored three times in the second inning and twice more in the third to extend its lead out to 7-1.
Austin Peay would finish with four hits against Auburn, including doubles by Pavel and De Vries.
APSU Player of the Game vs. Furman was Jessica Ryan. Player of the Game vs. Auburn was Kayla Davidson.
Next Game
Austin Peay Lady Govs Softball heads to Nashville, TN, Saturday, February 16th to take on the Trevecca Trojans in a double header at the Trevecca Softball Complex. The first game takes place at 1:00pm with the second game starting afterwards at 3:00pm.