EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Kenzie Ihle was literally unhittable through five innings, but Evansville started a rally in the sixth and took advantage of a windy day at Cooper Stadium to take a 4-2 victory over the Sycamores on Sunday.
 
Ihle was less than 24 hours off a masterful 12-strikeout performance against Evansville (20-26, 11-9 MVC) in Game One and was cruising yet again, striking out eight through five hitless. In 12.2 innings pitched this weekend she only allowed six hits (just two today) and struck out 20 total batters, but the Purple Aces pounced for four runs on the Sycamores (20-25, 5-15 MVC) in that sixth inning to chase the impressive Ihle from the game – the first and only runs Evansville had scored all weekend after getting blanked in 1-0 and 9-0 losses on Saturday.
 
In that inning, UE's Deja Shelton broke up Ihle's no-hit bid with a double into left field, followed by a sac bunt by Brittany Hay to move her to third. Ihle hit her first of two batters in the inning to make it first and third for power hitter (and starting pitcher) Morgan Florey, who crushed one to deep left field, but the wind brought it back in for a sacrifice fly into Erika Crissman's glove.
 
With two outs and still holding a 2-1 lead, Ihle hit UE's Hayli Scott to put two on for Morgan Lambert, who got one up into the opposite wind stream and just over the right field fence for a three-run homer to give Evansville a 4-2 lead it would not relinquish in the seventh.
 
Offensively, the Sycamores took a 2-0 lead in the fourth on a two-run single by Gabi Carter – which at that point seemed enough of a cushion for the dominate Ihle.
 
Other Sycamores who helped in tallying nine ISU hits were Rylee Holland (2-4), Erika Crissman (1-3), Shaye Barton (1-3, R), Becky Malchow (1-3, SB, R), Brooke Mann (2-3) and Kassie Brown (1-3, SB).
 
Defensively, the Sycamores shined again by not committing a single error. Currently, ISU's errorless streak extends back to the second inning of Game Two at Loyola on Wednesday – a current total of 22.2 innings without an error. Earlier this season, the Sycamores also went 28.0 innings without a defensive mishap.
 
The Sycamores return home for the first time since April 9 with a midweek Valley game against Loyola on Wed., April 26 at 4 p.m. ET.
 
For the latest information on the Sycamore Softball team, make sure to check out GoSycamores.com. You can also find the team on social media including Facebook and Twitter.