By ANTHONY SHINGLER
Assistant Sports Editor

The Lady Govs softball team played host to SEMO Friday, April 2, for a doubleheader and Saturday, April 3, to finish out the series. For most of the season, the Lady Govs (8-23, 3-7 OVC) offense has been stagnant due to not taking advantage of runners in scoring position, but against the Redhawks (11-20, 2-8 OVC) the coming out party was apparent with the hometown Lady Govs taking 2-3 from the visitors (4-3, 5-12, 11-2). With the two wins, the Lady Govs are within one conference win of matching last year’s OVC total.

The Lady Govs opened the first game of the doubleheader on Friday, April 2, with a 4-3 win after eight innings of work. SEMO got on the board first, scoring two runs in the second inning and neutralizing the Lady Govs attack. The game looked all but over after SEMO took a 3-0 lead after the fourth inning.

Then in the sixth inning the Lady Govs offense came alive quickly when Randal Davenport doubled and advanced to third after a SEMO error. Jessica Chernak singled, bringing home Davenport. Amy Mills was hit by a pitch and advanced to third on a sacrifice fly. Catie Cozart singled up through the right side to tie the game up at 3-3 heading into extra innings.

From there, the Lady Govs took the ship home allowing only two hits in the seventh inning to move into the eighth inning. After a shut out inning by pitcher, Morgan Brewer (6-6), the Lady Govs started the inning off with a single by Mills to right field. With two on base, pinch hitter Shelby Norton flies out to center field, bringing home Mills on the sacrifice fly for the win in game one.

In game two of the doubleheader, the Lady Govs defense was left out to dry allowing five runs in the first three innings of play and six more over the last two innings. The Lady Govs did attempt to recover in the seventh inning but could only muster out one run while leaving three runners on the bases.

In the last game of the series, the Lady Govs pounded SEMO 11-2. The win is the most runs the Lady Govs have scored all year.

With the score tied at 2-2 heading into the fifth inning the Lady Govs bats came alive quickly. Jordan Cole started off the inning with a single. Norton proceeded with a single through the left side of the infield advancing Cole to second. Davenport then walked, loading the bases up with no outs. The Lady Govs then would add six runs before Norton blasted a three run homer over the left field wall to give the Lady Govs their first series win of the season.

The Lady Govs will take a break from conference action Wednesday, April 7, hosting Evansville in a doubleheader starting at 5 p.m.
Then the Lady Govs will go on the road to take on rival Murray State Saturday, April 10, in a double header followed by the final game of the series on Sunday, April 11. 

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