APSU Women’s Softball
Clarksville, TN – Austin Peay’s softball team gave up a big inning early to Eastern Kentucky Sunday afternoon, in their finale of a three-game Ohio Valley Conference series at Lady Govs Field, and never recovered in a 9-4 loss to the Colonels.
The Lady Govs (4-19, 0-6 OVC) saw seven of the first eight Eastern Kentucky hitters get on to start the game, which led to the Colonels scoring seven times in the frame to take a commanding lead before APSU had a chance to hit.
Austin Peay would get on the board in the bottom of the inning, scoring one run, when junior Catie Cozart laced a one-out double to left-center, moved to third on an infield hit by senior Tiffany Smith and scored on red-shirt sophomore Shelby Norton’s sacrifice fly to left field.
Cozart would finish the day with three hits, two runs scored and a RBI, while Smith recorded two hits and drove in two.
The score would remain 7-1 until the bottom of the fifth inning, when Austin Peay scored three two-out runs to climb back into the contest, 7-4.
The Colonels got the first two Lady Govs quickly, but senior Randal Davenport was hit by a pitch and moved to second when EKU shortstop Christina Ciolek couldn’t handle a ground ball off the bat of freshman Lauren de Castro.
Cozart would follow with a single down the left field line, scoring Davenport, then moving to second on the throw back into the infield.
That would bring up Smith, who singled up the middle, bring in de Castro and Cozart to cut the Colonels lead in half.
But that would be as close as the Lady Govs would get, as Eastern Kentucky added two runs in the top of the seventh, with two outs, on an RBI single by Ashley Dollins and a double by Larkyn Wood.
Austin Peay returns to action on Tuesday, as it travels to Martin to take on the Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks in an OVC doubleheader at Bettye Giles Field, with the first pitch scheduled for 3:00pm.
