Box Score Game 1 | Game 2
RICHMOND, Ky. – Pitching was again key as the EKU softball team swept Tuesday's doubleheader over the University of Dayton at Gertrude Hood Field.
EKU (14-5) limited the Flyers' offense to just eight hits through two games, winning 4-0 and 5-2. The Colonels entered Tuesday's games leading the Ohio Valley Conference in strikeouts (126) and opponents' batting average (.221).
Senior right hander
Hayley Flynn and junior
Alex Sallberg combined for 10 strikeouts on the day allowing only two earned runs in two games.
Senior outfielder
Kayla Joyce hit .500 on 3-for-6 from the plate with one double and two RBIs to lead the EKU offense.
The Colonels capitalized off two Dayton errors, plating two runs in the home half of the first to take an early lead in Tuesday's first game.
Krislyn Campos knocked a leadoff double to the gap in left center to start the inning for EKU. Joyce then legged out a single before an erred throw by the Dayton first baseman sent Campos across the plate giving the Colonels a 1-0 advantage. After Joyce swiped two of her three bases on the night, the senior scored on another Dayton error in the second as the Colonels extended their lead to two.
Flynn held the Flyers hitless through three innings, as EKU added to its lead in the bottom of the third. Freshman
Hannah Clark drove an extra base hit to the gap in center, putting one in scoring position for the Colonels to lead off the inning.
Following a well-executed sacrifice bunt from senior
Sarah Fobbs, Clark scored to widen the EKU lead to 3-0. Later in the inning, Fobbs scored after an RBI groundout to first base from
Rachel Minogue.
The four-run lead was all that Flynn and the Colonels needed, taking game one with ease. After four and one-third innings, Sallberg entered the game to finish off the Flyers. Sallberg tossed two and two-thirds innings on her way to her fourth save of the season.
The Flyers (7-8) took its only lead of the day with two runs in the first inning of game two. Kayla Laquiere and Katelyn Gibson tallied RBIs in the top half of the first to put Dayton up 2-0 over the home standing Colonels.
The Dayton lead, however, was short lived as the Colonels answered on a two-run double to left center from Joyce in the bottom of the third that knotted the score at two.
The Colonels added another two runs in the following inning to take a 4-2 lead and never looked back.
Johnkyria Alston dropped a sacrifice bunt in an attempt to advance
Paige Murphy and a miscalculated throw from Dayton sent Murphy home for the score, extending EKU's lead to 3-2. Campos later drove a shot to right center, scoring Alston and giving the Colonels a two-run cushion.
EKU added an insurance run in the fifth, as Minogue crossed the plate following another blundered throw from the Flyers on its way to the win and the sweep.
The Colonels travel to Louisville on Friday for the first of four games this weekend at the Louisville Softball Classic at Ulmer Stadium.
EKU will take on Illinois State in Friday's lone game, before squaring off against Louisville, Michigan and Dayton over the next two days. Friday's game is scheduled for 12 p.m.
