CHARLESTON, Ill. -- Belmont Softball jumped out to an early lead but was unable to hold on for a win its first OVC road outing on Friday evening. The Bruins (5-8, 1-3 OVC) were narrowly held off at Eastern Illinois (10-4, 3-0 OVC), 2-1.
Belmont made a mark on the scoreboard first in the bottom of the first frame, wasting little time. Senior Cheyenne Cavanaugh (Spring, Texas) smacked a leadoff single and quickly picked up her first stolen base of the day. She was joined on base by junior Audrey Lyle (Westlake, Ohio) who reached on four balls. A ground out moved to the pair into scoring position before Cavanaugh was pushed over the plate with another hit. In their half of the same, the Panthers was able to quicky answer, plating a pair of runs to take the slim 2-1 lead.
Eastern Illinois was able to hold onto its one-run advantage as BU continue to threaten down the stretch. The Bruins were able to load the bases in the top of the third, in part due to back-to-back walks for sophomores Abi Ledbetter (Livingston, Tenn.) and MyKayla Spurlin (Madisonville, Ky.), to join Cavanaugh on base. However, the Bruins were unable to get any of them over the plate
BU threatened again in the top of the sixth, succeeding in loading the bases once again with help from sophomores Lauren Veltri (Clarksville, Tenn.) and Kailey Brown (San Antonio, Texas), and Cavanaugh, who both reached on four balls. Even with a fielding error by the Panthers, BU could not get the tying run home, helping Eastern Illinois hold on for the narrow 2-1 win.
For the day, Cavanaugh went 2-for-3 at the plate with a pair of stolen bases, to lead BU. Inside the circle, senior Alicia Veltri (Clarksville, Tenn.) went the distance, logging four strikeouts.
Belmont returns to action on Saturday for a doubleheader at Eastern Illinois. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. Live stats will be available for both games and the contest can be heard live via audio stream. Fans may also follow the team's Twitter account (@BelmontSoftball) for live, in-game updates.
