WKU Softball’s second game in as many days during its spring break road trip through Alabama resulted in a 6-0 loss, ending the squad’s longest win streak of the season at five. The Hilltoppers fell to Jacksonville State, the reigning Ohio Valley Conference champion, on the Gamecock’s home field.
“Today we struggled to get our bats going against Jacksonville State,” head coach Amy Tudor stated. “We were able to get some runners on base with walks and by getting hit, but couldn’t find a way to bring anyone around. I’m glad that we’ve got another game tomorrow to get back on track again before we head back home.”
With 27 games in the books, the Hilltoppers are nearly halfway through their 2017 slate, owning a record of 17-10 to this point.
Freshman Morgan McElroy registered the first hit of the game for either side when she led off the top of the third frame with a single through the right side. McElroy finished with one of the Hilltoppers’ three hits on the day.
Jacksonville State broke the scoreless tie in the bottom of the third inning, operating on one out. The Gamecocks second batter of the frame doubled to center field and scored when the next batter sent a home run out of left-center field.
Used to working from behind, the Hilltoppers saw Tommi Stowers lead off the sixth inning with a walk, which was followed by a Brittany Vaughn double. Then, with two runners in scoring position and one out, the Hilltoppers had a pair of chances to even things up but couldn’t get anything else going and came away scoreless in the inning.
Following two more scoreless frames, the Gamecocks added to their lead in the bottom of the sixth inning, doing all their damage on two outs to extend their lead to six runs.
In the top of the seventh inning, freshman Taylor Childress beat out a bunt single to lead off the frame for the Hilltoppers. The next at-bat, however, resulted in a double play by the Gamecocks to empty the bases. In a pinch-hit appearance, Paige Carter got on board after an error by the Jacksonville State second baseman. Carter would ultimately end up stranded on the base paths as the game came to a close.
Haylee Towers recorded her seventh complete game of the season in the circle, moving to 5-6 on the year with the loss. Towers finished the day with six strikeouts in 6.0 innings of work.
WKU will close mid-week spring break play on Thursday at Alabama A&M in Huntsville, Alabama. First pitch is slated for 1 p.m. CT.
MID-WEEK SCHEDULE
Tuesday – 3 p.m. CT at Samford | Birmingham, Ala. | W, 7-4 (8)
Wednesday – 4 p.m. CT at Jacksonville State | Jacksonville, Ala. | L, 0-6
Thursday – 1 p.m. CT at Alabama A&M | Huntsville, Ala. | Livestats
How to Follow the Hilltoppers: For complete information on WKU Softball, follow the team on Twitter at @WKUSoftball, Instagram @WKU_Softball and Facebook @WKUSoftball.
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Jessica Leifheit
Assistant Director
WKU Athletic Communications/Media Relations