COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Jesslyn Stairs blasted a two-run homer in the top of the seventh as SIUE softball completed a sweep of Tennessee Tech with a 6-4 win Saturday at Tech Softball Field.
The win improved SIUE's overall record to 10-12 with a 3-0 mark in Ohio Valley Conference play. The Golden Eagles dropped to 2-17 and 0-3.
Next up on the schedule for the Cougars is the home opener, a 5 p.m. contest Tuesday against Minnesota.
Betsy Woodward kept the Cougars alive in the top of the seventh with a two-out single. That gave Stairs an opportunity to bat, and she connected with her first career home run. The left-handed hitting freshman from Des Moines, Iowa, hit her home run over the fence in right center.
SIUE had been locked up in a 4-4 contest with Tennessee Tech scoring all four of its runs in the second inning.
The Cougars had the early lead with single tallies in the first inning an RBI grounder from Kaylin Fahy and an RBI single by Abby Harvell in the second.
After the Golden Eagles grabbed the lead in the bottom of the second with four unearned runs, SIUE responded with an RBI double by Fahy in the third. Ashley Duran later would score on a wild pitch to tie the game.
McKayla Anderson was the winning pitcher for the Cougars. She replaced Avery Arwood in the second and went on to throw 5 1/3 scoreless innings.
