Florence, AL – Needing a win to keep its postseason hopes alive, the Austin Peay State University (APSU) softball team scored a pair of early runs and was led by a complete-game shutout by senior pitcher Jordan Benefiel in a 2-0 Atlantic Sun Conference victory against North Alabama, Saturday, at Hilda B. Anderson Softball Stadium.
The Governors ended the regular season 8-16 in ASUN play and tied with Kennesaw State – who they did not play in the regular season – for the final spot in the eight-team ASUN Softball Championship.
The team with the better RPI tomorrow will be awarded the final postseason berth. APSU entered today’s contest ranked 160th in RPI, while KSU—which lost to Florida Gulf Coast —was 235th.
Now, let’s get to the game at hand.
Both teams led off their half of the opening inning with a single, but the runners were stranded at second.
Brie Howard led off the top of the second with a single and advanced to second on a passed ball and then to third after a throwing error by the Lions’ second baseman.
Mykenzi Duke then drove in Howard on an RBI single, before a pop up and line out halted the Govs’ early scoring.
North Alabama went down in order in the bottom of the inning, before Howard drove in Macee Roberts in the top of the third to extend APSU’s advantage.
After a pair of fly outs and a ground out in the top of the seventh, North Alabama’s McKenzie Patterson had a two-out double to the left field wall, while the Lions’ next batter was walked to put the game-winning run at the plate.
However, the Lions could not cut into the Governors’ lead, after a toss from Gabi Apiag to Roberts at third ended the game, resulting in the win.
Between The Lines
Austin Peay State University improved to 5-7 all-time against North Alabama and 3-2 in Florence.
The win was APSU head coach Kassie Stanfill‘s 151st of her career, extending her program-record mark.
The shutout was Jordan Benefiel’s fifth of the season, moving her into a three-way tie with Lauren de Castro (2014) and Angela Thompson (1994) for the eighth most in a single season in program history.
Benefiel’s shutout also marked the 17th of her career, moving her into a tie with Natasha Anderson (2004-07) for the second-most in program history, trailing only Angela Thompson’s record of 25.
The road-series win marked the first for APSU since sweeping Lipscomb, April 15th-16th, 2023.
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