Box Score vs. Akron | vs. Omaha

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The EKU softball team kept its momentum, rolling to two wins on Friday on the opening day of the Hornet Tournament hosted by Alabama State University.
 
The Colonels defeated Akron 6-3 in Friday's first game, before adding a 7-2 win over the University of Nebraska Omaha. With its fifth straight win, EKU (8-2) tied its best start since the 2013 season.
 
EKU trailed 2-0 in the bottom of the second, before an Akron error allowed Sarah Fobbs to cross the plate to put the first run of the day on the board for the Colonels. With Brittany Oldaker on third, Amber Murray delivered an RBI single to second base to tie the game at two.
 
With two away and Murray in scoring position, Campos doubled to score Murray for her fifth RBI on the year and give EKU a 3-2 lead.
 
Akron added a run in the fourth on an RBI single from Carly Childress and knotted the score at three.
 
The Colonel offense struck again in the fifth and sixth innings, to solidify the first win of the day.
 
Fobbs dealt a two-run double to put the Colonels in front, 5-3. Hits from Murray and Kayla Joyce put two on for EKU, as Joyce's single sent Murray to third. Murray exploited an Akron error on her way to the plate, giving the Colonels the 6-2 win.
 
In Friday's second game, Campos scored in the top of the first after an Omaha throwing error as EKU led 1-0. The Mavericks answered with a run in the home half of the inning to tie it up.
 
The Colonels regained the lead in the fourth on an RBI double from Hannah Clark that scored Joyce, putting EKU up 2-1.
 
The EKU bats got hot in the fifth, as the Colonels tallied five more runs before sealing their eighth win of the year.
 
­­The Colonels recorded five runs on four hits, as Rachel Minogue sent an RBI single to score Joyce for the first run of the inning. With the bases loaded, Oldaker dropped an RBI single to left before Murray banged out the team's first triple of the season to add three more runs and another win for the Colonels.
 
Murray led EKU at the plate Friday, going 4-for-5 with three RBIs. Oldaker went 4-for-5 with one RBI on the day.
 
Senior pitcher Hayley Flynn and junior hurler Alex Sallberg were, again, stellar allowing just five total runs in Friday's two games. Flynn got the start against Akron, logging three and one-third innings while striking out three batters. Sallberg came in relief in the fourth, on her way to eight strikeouts and one Akron hit in three and two-thirds innings on the mound.
 
Against Omaha, the duo combined for 11 strikeouts—tying a season high the two set in EKU's game against Saint Francis on February 13.
 
The Colonels return to action on Saturday against Howard University at 3 p.m. before taking on Gardner-Webb University at 9 p.m.