Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Eastern Kentucky swept a softball doubleheader from Western Kentucky on Wednesday in Bowling Green. The Colonels (4-3) won the first game 1-0 and beat WKU (3-4) 9-2 in game two.

Three pitchers combined to shutout the Hilltoppers in game one. Noelani Esperas started and pitched the first two and two-thirds innings. She walked three and struck out two. Freshman Hannah Driver came on with the bases loaded and two outs in the third inning. She got a ground ball out to keep the game knotted at 0-0. Driver pitched three more innings allowing three hits, walking one and striking out one. She picked up the win and improved her record to 2-0 this season. Kristin Perry walked one and struck out one in the seventh to earn the save. Her strike out came with two outs and the bases loaded.

The Colonels plated what proved to be the only run of the game in the top of the fourth. With one out, Raquel Howes singled up the middle. Freshman Christina Ciolek followed with a double to left center and Howes scored from first base. Those two hits were the only base knocks for EKU the entire game.

Western’s Kim Wagner went the distance in the circle and struck out nine batters.

After recording only two hits and scoring one run in seven innings of game one, Eastern Kentucky had five hits and scored seven runs in the first three innings of game two. Senior Shyenne Hussey and freshman Shannon McQueen staked the visitors to a 4-0 lead by driving in two runs each with a double and a single respectively in the first.

Cassi Gibson had a solo home run in the second and Ashley Dollins had a two-run homer in the third to extend the lead to 7-0. A two-run home run in the bottom of the fourth by Amanda Walden got the Hilltoppers on the board, but they never got any closer.

Ciolek finished 2-for-3 with a run and an RBI. Seven other Colonels had one hit each. Perry started and improved to 2-2 this season. She allowed six hits and struck out six over five and a third innings. Driver allowed one hit in one and two-thirds innings of scoreless relief.

Having won four of their last five games, the Colonels will travel to Birmingham, Ala., this weekend for the Magic City Classic hosted by Alabama-Birmingham and Samford. EKU will play four games in three days beginning with Indiana State at 3:30 p.m. ET on Friday.