EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – SIUE softball earned its third doubleheader sweep of the Ohio Valley Conference regular season Saturday with a pair of wins over visiting Morehead State.

The Cougars defeated the Eagles 13-3 in five innings and 5-4. SIUE remained atop of the OVC West Division with an 8-2 record in league play and improved to 14-17 overall.

"It's two wins, and that's the important thing," said SIUE Head Coach Sandy Montgomery.

In game one, pitcher Haley Chambers went three innings for her eighth victory of the season.

"It was a really good feeling that your team has your back," said Chambers. "It was a relaxing atmosphere. Everyone did their job. To have that many runs is that much easier for a pitcher to go out and pitch."

Chambers also added a two-run triple to the gap in right center field on the first pitch she saw in the first inning and finished the game with three RBIs.

"I wanted to get on top early," said Chambers. "That pitch was right where I wanted it."

SIUE was lighting up the scoreboard from the opening pitch of game one. The Cougars scored four runs in each of the first three innings and added the 13^th run in the bottom of the fourth before closing out the short game called due to the eight-run rule.

Centerfielder Whitney Lanphier gave the crowd at Cougar Field more to cheer about in the third inning. The Cougar freshman belted a grand slam, her first home run of the season. Lanphier led the Cougar offense with five RBIs in the opener.

 "We were swinging at good pitches and getting good counts," said Montgomery. "We were zoned in. They had three pitchers, and unfortunately for them, we were on all three of them."

Morehead State's Tanna Deuferer took the loss after giving up eight runs. Her record dropped to 3-8.

SIUE and Morehead State went back and forth in game two.

The Cougars scored on an infield error in the first inning but fell behind 2-1 in the top of the third inning when the Eagles picked up three singles and took advantage of SIUE's lone error.

Chelsea Yankolovich would tie up the game on the first pitch in the bottom of the third with her first home run of the season, a blast to left field.

Both teams added a pair of runs before Rachel Coonrod provided the eventual game winner in the fifth inning. Coonrod ripped a double off the left-field fence, scoring Chambers who had walked and stole second base.

"We did a good job of having that fine line between being aggressive and being patient," said Montgomery.

Erin Greenwalt earned the victory in the nightcap, improving to 6-7 overall. She struck out nine Morehead State hitters. Megan Tymorek went the distance for Morehead State and fell to 4-10.

"We pulled through at the end because everyone stayed up the whole game," said Chambers.