Charleston, IL – The Austin Peay State University (APSU) softball team rallied in the nightcap to sweep Eastern Illinois in an Ohio Valley Conference doubleheader, Saturday at Williams Field, as the Governors extended their current win streak to a season-tying four straight games, with the 3-1 and 4-3 victories.
Austin Peay 3, Eastern Illinois 1
Austin Peay (23-20, 10-9 OVC) jumped out early in the opener versus Eastern Illinois (21-25, 6-13 OVC) with Lexi Osowski ripping a double off the fence in left field to score Bailey Shorter, who had walked, with the game’s first run.
Brooke Pfefferle would follow with a single down the right-field line, scoring Osowski, making it 2-0 Govs.
Those two runs turned out to be all the runs the APSU Govs would need, as Harley Mullins (8-5) limited the Panthers to one unearned run – coming in the second inning — on six hits and two walks.
The score would remain 2-1 until the top of the seventh when Austin Peay State University would tack on an insurance run.
Shorter would open the inning by drawing her second walk of the game, move to second when Osowski was hit by a pitch, to third on a long fly ball off the bat of Pfefferle and score on an infield out by Kylie Campbell.
Austin Peay 4, Eastern Illinois 3
Unlike the opening game of the day, the Govs struggled with its offense early, as they only managed one hit – a fourth-inning single by Shorter – over the first five innings, while the Panther build a three-run lead.
Shorter would then follow with a single, bring up Osowski, who blasted a three-run homer into a 25-mile per hour wind over the left-field fence to tie the game, 3-3.
The score would remain tied, 3-3, as the two teams moved into extra innings, with the Govs finally pushing across what turned out to be the game-winning run in the top of the ninth.
Kendyl Weinzapfel and Mea Clark would open the ninth with back-to-back singles, with Emily Harkleroad then drawing a walk to load the bases, with no outs.
That brought up Zuege, who lifted a fly ball into medium left field, with Weinzapfel tagging and scoring to give the Govs a 4-3 lead.
Mullins, the third Govs pitcher of the game made that run hold up as she picked up her second win of the day by holding the Panthers off the scoreboard in the bottom of the inning.
Inside the Boxscore
With the two wins, Austin Peay State University head coach Kassie Stanfill moved past Tara McCoy (1999-03) into second place all-time for career wins at Austin Peay, with 94.
With her two hits in Game 1, Brooke Pfefferle reached 150 career hits, marking only the second time in the program’s 37-year history where the team had three players (Lexi Osowski, Bailey Shorter) on the current roster with at least 150-career hits at the same time.
In scoring two runs, Osowski moved into a tie with Leigh Pettyjohn (1987-90) for third place all-time in career runs, with 112.
With four RBIs on the day, Osowski moved into a tie (Brianna Venable 2003-06, Lauren de Castro 2011-14) for fourth-place all-time with 108 RBIs.
Shorter moved into fifth-place all-time in runs scored, with 108.
Jordan Benefiel moved into a tie for 10th all-time in career saves.
The extra-inning game was the first of the season for APSU Govs.
Morgan Zuege recorded a career single-game high six putouts in Game 1.
Emily Harkleroad recorded a career single-game high 13 putouts in Game 2.
Next Up For APSU Softball
The Austin Peay State University softball team concludes its three-game Ohio Valley Conference series versus the Panthers with a Sunday single game at 1:00pm.
For news and updates on everything Governors softball, follow along on Twitter (@GovsSB) or check back at LetsGoPeay.com.
