NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Belmont Softball continues its in-state road swing this weekend as OVC play rolls on. The Bruins (8-12, 4-7 OVC) make the short trip to Austin Peay (10-8, 5-6 OVC) for three-game series beginning on Saturday.
The Govs have dropped their last two outings and now stand at 10-8 overall and 5-6 in conference play.
Brooke Pfefferle leads the team at the plate, batting .429 with nine runs scored, a pair of doubles, a triple, a homerun and six RBI. Lexi Osowski follows batting .396 with 11 runs, three doubles, a pair of home runs and 10 RBI.
Austin Peay's pitching staff is splitting time nearly equally inside the circle. Jordan Benefiel sports the best ERA at 1.77 with 23.2 innings tossed and narrowly leads the corps in strikeouts with 27. Kelsey Gross has the best record at 4-1 with 25 strikeouts over 34.2 innings of work. Harley Mullins has tossed the most innings, 54.0 and has 26 strikeouts for a 4.67 ERA.
APSU leads the all-time series, 13-10, and has won the last five meetings between the teams. Belmont's last win over the Governors came in 2017 with a 7-0 shutout in Clarksville.
BU will be looking to build on its strong play of late, as it continues its road trip. Senior Cheyenne Cavanaugh (Spring, Texas) leads the team at the plate, batting .365 with eight runs on 23 hits, four doubles, a pair of triples and 10 RBI. Sophomore Abi Ledbetter (Livingston, Tenn.), batting .254 with four runs scored, 15 hits, a pair of doubles, a homerun and five RBI, follows her.
Inside the circle, Belmont has looked to senior Alicia Veltri (Clarksville, Tenn.) to lead the pitching staff. She has tossed a team-leading 56.2 innings, retiring 43 batters. She has a record of 4-6 and an ERA of 3.58. Classmate Autumn McDanel (Moravia, Iowa) sports a 3-2 record with a 2.92 ERA after throwing 36.0 innings and notching 24 strikeouts.
In NCAA national rankings, Belmont Softball has a trio of players who have risen through the ranks to stand near the top of some national statistics. In sacrifice flies, Cavanaugh stands ranked 33rd in the category, which is also second best in the OVC. In walks per game, sophomore MyKayla Spurlin (Madisonville, Ky.) stands 27thand leads the conference in the category. Veltri comes in at 146th in total strikeouts.
Saturday's doubleheader is set to begin at 1 p.m. The rubber match on Sunday has a first pitch set for 1 p.m. Live stats will be available for the series. All of the games can be viewed live on ESPN+ or the ESPN app. Fans may follow the team's Twitter account (@BelmontSoftball) for live, in-game updates.
Belmont Softball at Austin Peay Game Notes (.pdf)
