ST. CHARLES, Mo. - The Lindenwood Softball team (28-22, 17-10 OVC) swept Morehead State on Saturday with a pair of 1-0 wins behind solid pitching performances from
Ryleigh Owens,
Avery Wapp, and
Samantha Roulanaitis to help the Lions clinch the number four seed in next weekend's OVC Tournament in Peoria, Ill. Lindenwood will play the winner of SEMO and Western Illinois on Wednesday, May 6 at 5:30 PM CT.
Game One: Lindenwood 1, Morehead State 0
After the game resumed in the second inning,
Ryleigh Owens struck out MSU's Sage Vandemark with runners on first and second to keep the Eagles off of the scoreboard. In the home half of the second,
Emily Geary hit her eighth home run of the season with a one-out solo home run to left field to put the Lions in front 1-0.
Karter Skillman followed Geary's homer with a double to centerfield, but Lindenwood was unable to add on to their lead as MSU's Allicen Harris was able to get the next two Lion batters out to keep the Lion lead at 1-0 headed to the top of the third. Owens limited the Eagle offense the rest of the game allowing just four hits and pitched her third complete game of the season while adding up her team-leading ninth win of the season. The Senior pitcher finished the game with three strikeouts and lowered her season ERA to 3.86.
Offensively, Skillman, Geary,
Jolie McMinn,
Anna Sanders, and
Madisen Noll each collected a hit in the win over the Eagles in game one of the doubleheader to move the Lions' record to 27-22 and 16-10 in the Ohio Valley Conference.
Game Two: Lindenwood 1, Morehead State 0
Avery Wapp returned to the circle for the first time since March 22 and was lights out as she allowed three hits over 2.1 innings pitched and struck out four batters as she went through Morehead State's batting order one time on Senior Day.
Jolie McMinn delivered the Lions only run of the game in the bottom of the first on an RBI single to left centerfield that scored
Tori Hatton, as Lindenwood had two hits in the game with their second hit being on an
Anna Sanders single to right field in the bottom of the third. Sophomore Pitcher
Samantha Roulanaitis would enter the game in the top of the third and would go the distance as she pitched the final 4.2 innings of the game and allowed one hit and struck out four batters to shut down the Eagle offense in the second game of the doubleheader. Roulanaitis improved her record to 7-1 on the season and lowered her season ERA to 2.60 which ranks second on the team.
The Lions will now prepare for the OVC Tournament which begins next week in Peoria, Illinois. Lindenwood ends their regular season with 28 overall wins and 17 OVC wins, which is a division I Era record.
