APSU Women’s Softball
Jacksonville, AL – A couple of miscues against Jacksonville State left the Austin Peay softball team on the short end of two Ohio Valley Conference outcomes Saturday afternoon at University Field, as the Lady Govs were swept by the Gamecocks, 5-2 and 5-0.
In Game 1, Austin Peay (10-32, 5-15 OVC) was trailing 2-1, with one out in the bottom of the fifth inning, when JSU’s Abbey Stepp reached on an error by Lady Govs senior second baseman Randal Davenport.
Hayden Crawford followed with a single to left field, driving in Stepp with an unearned run, which was followed by Kaycee Crow hitting her sixth home run of the season – driving in two more unearned runs — to make it 5-1 Jacksonville State (30-11, 15-3 OVC).
The Lady Govs would cut in the margin to 5-2 in the top of the sixth inning on junior Catie Cozart’s third home run this season, but that would be as close as Austin Peay would get, as Gamecock starter Tiffany Harbin retired six of the final seven Lady Govs she faced to end the game.
Cozart would finish the opener going 2-for-3 for the Lady Govs.
Austin Peay took lead in the top of the third inning on Davenport’s first home run of her career, with Jacksonville State tying the game in the bottom of the inning on RBI single by Stepp.
The Gamecocks took the lead 2-1 in the bottom of the fourth on a single by Kelci Johnson.
In Game 2, Davenport and senior Tiffany Smith opened the game with back-to-back errors to give the Gamecocks a quick scoring opportunity, which they took advantage of one out later on a home run by Amanda Crow to make it 3-0.
The score would remain that way until the bottom of the sixth inning, when Jacksonville State tacked on two insurance runs – the first on a home run by Sallie Beth Burch to open the inning and the second on a Krystal Ruth single.
Despite being shutout in the nightcap, the Lady Govs did have several scoring chances leaving eight runs on base – including four in scoring position.
Cozart finished 2-for-2 in the nightcap, with Davenport, Brewer and red-shirt sophomore Jessica Ryan also collecting hits.
The two teams will play the finale of their three-game series, 1:00pm, Sunday, with a single game.
