Kentucky Aces Home Opener Against Evansville
It was a night of firsts at Kentucky Proud Park as the Wildcats aced its first home test of the 2023 season with a 6-3 victory over Evansville on Tuesday. Redshirt freshman Travis Smith earned the first victory of his career, sophomore Mason Moore the first save of his and five different players drove in runs to spark UK (3-1) to a mostly pressure-free win. Smith, a Walton, Kentucky native, made his collegiate debut. He pitched 3.0 innings, allowing one run on three hits. Moore gave up just one hit and struck out four as he held Evansville scoreless over the final three innings. Sophomore Emilien Pitre had three more hits and is 7-of-10 his past two games, while senior Hunter Gilliam made two sparkling defensive plays at first base and senior Isaiah Byars picked up his first three base knocks in a UK uniform. The Cats utilized three sacrifice bunts, three stolen bases, two bunt hits and five hit batsmen to cause the “chaos” on the bases they aim to play with this season.
Schoonover Twirls Complete-Game Shutout in 1-0 Win over LMU
Pitcher Stephanie Schoonover threw her third-straight complete-game shutout Tuesday afternoon as the No. 16/17 Kentucky Softball team defeated Loyola-Marymount 1-0 in Los Angeles. The Kentucky run came in the top of the sixth inning thanks to an infield RBI single off the bat of Grace Lorsung to score Kayla Kowalik from third with two outs in the inning. The Wildcats and Lions both registered three hits in Tuesday’s game, as the pitchers stole the show in the City of Angels. Schoonover not only recorded her third-straight complete-game shutout Tuesday in the win, but she also struck out 10 batters in the game, marking her third-straight game of the season in which she has tallied 10+ terminations via the strikeout. Seven of Schoonover’s strikeouts were swinging and three were looking.
Cardinals Welcome Xavier for Midweek Contest
The University of Louisville baseball team hosts Xavier in midweek action on Wednesday at 2 p.m. ET at Jim Patterson Stadium. Louisville opened the season with three victories over Bucknell last weekend at Jim Patterson Stadium. The Cardinals outscored the Bison 23-6 in the series and are 3-0 to start the season for the seventh time under Dan McDonnell. The Cardinals struck out 39 hitters during the opening weekend, their highest total through three games since 2017 (also 39). Louisville leads the all-time series against Xavier 41-21 and holds a 31-13 record against the Musketeers in Louisville. The Cardinals have won 13 of the last 15 overall in the series, but the games have been tight in recent history. Three of the last five contests have been decided by one run, with none of the five final margins larger than three.
Reckart’s Big Day Leads Tops over Bruins on Tuesday
WKU Baseball defeated the Belmont Bruins 9-7 on Tuesday night at E.S. Rose Park in Nashville, Tenn. The Hilltoppers move to 4-0 for the first time since the 2011 season when they won their first five games before their first loss. Freshman pitcher Nic Schutte started his first collegiate game on the mound. The Louisville native went two innings giving up two runs on two hits with one walk. At the plate, WKU racked up 11 hits and eight walks, with three Hilltoppers producing multi-hit efforts. Drew Reckart led the way, going 3-for-3 with four RBI and a home run. After a rough start to the season, junior Ty Crittenberger went 3-for-4 on the day with a double and two singles, while scoring two runs of his own. In his second start of the season freshman Camden Ross hit two doubles and a RBI in a 2-for-4 performance at the dish.
Racers Fall in Home Opener
Murray State baseball was unable to grab the win in their home opener on Tuesday, falling 5-2 to UT Martin. The Racer bats were able to collect 10 more hits overall and two extra-base hits in the contest. Riley Hawthorne, Charlie Corum and Cade Sammons led the way offensively with two hits apiece. Jacob Pennington smacked a double in his first at bat of the season after being the starting pitcher last Friday. Veterans Brennan McCullough and Seth Gardner each picked up an RBI on the day while Dustin Mercer scored his team-high fifth run of the season. Two pitchers made their Murray State debuts in Ethan Lyke and Cade Brown. Lyke was able to put together 3.1 innings pitched with zero earned runs while striking out two Skyhawk hitters. Brown tossed a scoreless, hitless inning in his first time in a MSU uniform.
Govs outpace Salukis for wild Taco Tuesday victory
Right fielder Garrett Martin hit two home runs, and third baseman Michael Robinson supplied a grand slam as Austin Peay State University’s baseball team rallied for a 14-13 nonconference victory against Southern Illinois Tuesday night on Joe Maynard Field at Raymond C. Hand Park. Martin’s 3-for-5, two-RBI effort led the 13-hit attack as Austin Peay again posted a double-digit total in both runs and hits. Designated hitter Lyle Miller-Green continued his hot start with a 2-for-3, two-RBI performance. Robinson, who missed the previous two games due to illness, was 1-for-5 with his second career grand slam in the third inning. Campbell Holt (1-0), the third of seven Govs’ pitchers, held on to the win after holding the Salukis to two runs on four hits while striking out three over three innings. Robinson recorded two outs in three batters faced to pick up the save. Bandy was 2-for-5 with two home runs and five RBI to pace the Salukis’ 15-hit attack. Reliever Matthew Steidl (0-1) allowed the four runs in the fifth inning, his only inning of work, and was charged with the loss.
Govs host Northern Iowa to open home schedule
Austin Peay State University’s softball team will play host to Northern Iowa at 1 p.m., Wednesday, at Cathi Maynard Park-Cheryl Holt Field, as they open the home part of their 2023 schedule. The Governors (2-6) enter the matchup having gone 2-3 overall this past weekend at the Auburn Tiger Invitational, with shutout victories over Dayton and Villanova, while the Panthers (0-5) have not played since the opening weekend of the 2023 season, on February 10-12, when they hosted their own Doc Halverson-UNI Dome Classic.