NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Indiana State softball splits on Sunday at Belmont, falling 4-1 in the opener and winning 6-2 in the second game.
 
In the game two victory, Indiana State collected nine of their 13 hits and scored five-of-six runs in the final two innings. Prior to Sunday's games, the Sycamores and Bruins ended late Saturday night in the first of the three-game series, as Belmont came out on top 4-0.
 
Indiana State earned a No. 6 seed in the 2025 MVC Tournament, drawing No. 11 Evansville. The teams will play the last game on the opening day of the tournament at 8 p.m. ET. The tournament is being hosted by Drake in Des Moines, Iowa.
 
Game One: Belmont 4, Indiana State 1
Belmont jumped ahead in the first inning, taking a 2-0 lead at the end of one. Lauren Sackett recorded two punch outs in the inning, while Morgan Goodrich saved a third run from scoring by tossing her out at the plate from left field.
 
The Sycamores struck in the second inning. Livi Colip reached safely via walk, and Brailey Mills (the pinch runner for Colip) moved to second on a single by Kenzie Cornwell. Sophie Esposito bunted the runners into scoring position, for Hannah Welch to score Mills on a check-swing bunt. The Indiana State was held to the lone run and now trailed Belmont 2-1.
 
Lauren Marsicek at third and Cornwell in right field both made plays to keep the Bruins from advancing on the base paths in the bottom of the third inning. The score remained the same through the Sycamores' half of the fourth, despite a lead off single by Cornwell.
 
After the lead off batter from Belmont reached base, Sophie Esposito made a diving play on a grounder to her glove side to get the second batter out at first. But Indiana State went down 4-1 in the fourth as the very next batter hit a two-run home run by Belmont.
 
Peyton Simmons got the Sycamores started in the seventh with a single right back at the pitcher and got to second on a throwing error. That's where she would be stranded as Belmont went on win, 4-1.
 
Lauren Sackett (L, 3-15) pitched 5.0 innings giving up seven hits, four runs (three earned), and one home run with three strikeouts. Megan Asher recorded an inning in relief with no hits, no strikeouts, and a walk.
 
Kenzie Cornwell (2), Hannah Welch, and Peyton Simmons give the Sycamores their four hits in the game. She moved her hit streak to five-straight games with her fifth multi-hit game of the season. Brailey Mills entered to pinch run and recorded the lone run of the game. Madison Poulson and Luci Kapelka each drew two walks.
 
Game Two: Indiana State 6, Belmont 2
Belmont took the lead early, 1-0, after plating a run in the opening frame. In the Sycamores' half of the second inning, Abby Widmar walked and Brailey Mills singled to reach safely. They advanced a base into scoring position with nobody out, but the Bruins left both runners stranded to hold the 1-0 lead.
 
To close out the second inning, center fielder Mills laid out in the right center to save a Bruin from reaching base.
 
In the top of the third, the Sycamores continued to flirt with getting a runner to step on home plate for the first time, leaving two more stranded in the inning. Through the third inning, Indiana State had already left five stranded on the bases.
 
Belmont scored their second run of the game on a sacrifice fly to center and took the 2-0 lead into the fourth inning.
 
Mills led off the top of the fourth with a double down the line in right field, marking the first extra base hit of the series for the Sycamores and her second of her young career. A grounder by Sophie Esposito moved Mills to third, allowing a pinch-hit, sacrifice fly RBI by Jordan Thatcher to score Mills. It was Thatcher's first plate appearance of the series, and she drove in Indiana State's first run of the game with her first RBI of her career. The Sycamores still trailed 2-1 at the end of four.
 
The first two Sycamore batters of the fifth – Madison Poulson and Morgan Goodrich – reached via fielding error and fielder's choice, respectively. Neither were able to cross the plate, leaving the score in favor of Belmont, 2-1, and increasing the LOB count up to six.
 
Megan Asher came into pitch in the fourth and fifth innings and didn't allow a run to score, which foreshadowed the Sycamore offense kicking it into gear in the last two innings.
 
Indiana State scored three in the sixth inning. Widmar led off the inning belting her third homer of her career over the right center wall. Mills followed up with a single and reached second on a Belmont error. Esposito moved Mills to third with a hot shot to the shortstop, also reaching base. Thatcher singled to left scoring Mills, followed by Peyton Simmons also singling to left to score Thatcher.
 
Hailey Griffin came into the circle in the bottom of the sixth and kept Belmont scoreless in the frame, giving Indiana State the 4-2 lead heading into the seventh.
 
But the Sycamores weren't done. Morgan Goodrich joined the hit party with a shot back at the pitcher but was later out on a fielder's choice. Livi Colip reached via an infield single, and Annie Waggoner came in to run. Widmar singled through the left side to move Waggoner over to third, and Mills singled again to score Waggoner. Esposito hit a shot to center and notched an RBI on her single, scoring Widmar.
 
All the offense gave Indiana State a 6-2 lead going into the bottom of the seventh, where Griffin and her defense retired the side in order, capping the Indiana State regular season with a conference road victory.
 
Brailey Mills was the spark in game two, finishing a perfect 4-4 at the plate with two runs, a walk, and one RBI. It's her third multi-hit game of the season (her last was on February 22), her most hits in a game, and she hit her second double of her career.
 
Abby Widmar finished 2-3 at the plate with a home run, walk, and two runs scored. She notched her fourth multi-hit game of the season (last was March 11). The freshman ended the home run drought, as the last homer Indiana State hit was on March 28 at Drake (Kapelka).
 
Livi Colip was the third Sycamore to finish with two-plus hits, finishing 2-4 on the day.
 
Notes:

• Indiana State's six runs are the most since also scoring six in a home win versus Missouri State on April 11
• Most hits as a team (13) since March 22 in a 16-3 win versus Murray State
• Most RBI in a game since an 8-2 win at Butler on April 1
• First game in the last six without a defensive error

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