The Eastern Kentucky University softball team closed out the regular season by sweeping a doubleheader against in-state rival Morehead State on Saturday at Gertrude Hood Field, winning game one, 9-2, and game two, 2-1, in extra innings.
EKU has qualified for the OVC Tournament for the sixth consecutive season. The Colonels will have to wait on other results to find out their seeding.
The OVC Tournament gets underway Wednesday, May 10, in Oxford, Alabama.
In game one, EKU (25-29, 11-9 OVC) trailed 2-0 before lighting up a four-spot in the bottom of the third on the back of a Paige Murphy grand slam over the left-center wall to take a two run lead. EKU never trailed again.
Eastern tacked on five more insurance runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. The rally was sparked by Rachel Minogue reaching on an error and Johnkyria Alston reaching on walk. With two on, Murphy connected again for a double to left, plating the first runner of the inning. After Mollie Paulick singled and pushed one more across, senior right fielder Kelly Wood laced one down the right field line that fell just fair to empty the bases and make it 8-2. Krislyn Campos ended the scoring by plating Wood with a single down the first base side.
Murphy finished game one 2-for-3 with five RBI and two runs scored. Minogue, meanwhile, went 2-for-4 with a pair of runs scored.
Paulick picked up the win in game one, pitching four innings of scoreless relief and allowing no hits.
Paulick took a perfect game into the sixth inning of game two. However, Lindsay Ward broke it up in that inning with a solo home run to left-center that tied the game at 1-1.
Wood played the hero in the bottom of the eighth. On Senior Day, the senior from Englewood, Ohio laced a walk-off double down the right field line to plate fellow senior Amber Murray for the winning run.
Wood finished game two 2-for-3 with an RBI. Alston went 2-for-4 and drove in the Colonels’ other run in the bottom of the first.
Senior Alex Sallberg notched the game-two win after pitching two innings of scoreless relief.
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Steve Fohl
Associate Director of EKUSports Communications