SUNDAY'S SCORES
Eastern Illinois 4, Houston Baptist 3
Illinois State 4,
SIUE 3 (8)
Tennessee State 6, New Mexicon 4
Jacksonville State 5, @Charleston Southern 2
Tennessee Tech 9, @Kennesaw State 3
Eastern Kentucky 6, Evansville 4
IUPUI 10,
@Austin Peay 1 (5)
UT Martin 6, Bowling Green 6 (8)
Southeast Missouri 2, Grambling 0
Murray State 8, Alabama A&M 0
@Georgia Tech 8,
UT Martin 5
Belmont 18, @Samford 8
EASTERN ILLINOIS 4, HOUSTON BAPTIST 3
MONROE, La. - Eastern Illinois softball completed Mardi Gras Classic action on Sunday with a walk-off, 4-3, victory over Houston Baptist, which improves the Panthers to 6-4 on the early-season as EIU went 4-1 overall in tourney play.
Trailing the Huskies, 3-2, through six innings, the Panthers plated a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh frame to gut out the win.
Senior Ashleigh Westover tied the game at three apiece thanks to her RBI bunt on a squeeze play to bring home junior Hannah Cole from third.
Sophomore April Markowski then delivered the game-winning walk-off sac fly RBI, which plated senior Hanna Mennenga, who entered the game as a pinch runner at third base.
Panthers will now participate in the squad's third early-season tourney next weekend (Feb. 21-23), as EIU travels to Jackson, Miss., for four contests, facing the host squad twice, as well as battling Kansas and Southeast Louisiana.
ILLINOIS STATE 3, SIUE 3
TEMPE, Ariz. - The SIUE softball team wrapped up play at the Arizona State Littlewood Classic as they took on in-state opponent Illinois State Sunday at Farrington Stadium.
The Cougars were edged 4-3 in eight innings against the Redbirds to go 1-4 on the weekend. Despite some losses against a number of the top-ranked programs in the country, Head Coach Sandy Montgomery was pleased with her team's overall performance.
Against Illinois State, SIUE jumped out to a 3-0 lead after an inning and a half with Rachel Coonrod, Jordan LaFave, and Alex McDavid each producing an RBI.
The Redbirds responded, however, hitting a two-run home run in the bottom of the second inning and eventually tying the game at 3-3 in the sixth inning. ISU's Stephanie Gallant delivered the game-winning hit in extra innings with an RBI single that scored Sara Bradley.
In the circle, Haley Chambers allowed just three earned runs on five hits while striking out six in 7.2 innings of work. Regan Romshek got the win for Illinois State, not allowing a run in 6.2 innings.
SIUE also was defeated by third-ranked Washington Saturday night.
The Cougars will be back in action next weekend when they travel to Jackson, Miss., for five games at the Jackson State Tournament. Play begins Friday with SIUE facing Kansas at 11 a.m.
TENNESSEE STATE 6, NEW MEXICO 4
TUCSON, Ariz. - The Tigers earned a win as they concluded play at the Hillenbrand Invitational on Sunday morning. Tennessee State (3-7) used a run in the fifth and two runs in each of the final two innings to claim a 6-4 win over New Mexico (1-7) in front of 2,471 fans.
Carmen Hill gave a spark to the Tigers lineup from the nine-hole and was instrumental in the win over New Mexico. Hill finished the day 2-for-4 with two runs scored and a run driven in. With the Lobos leading 2-1, the transfer led off the fifth inning with a hard shot to third. Hill reached as the ball shot away towards left center. Jayna Hanawahine grounded out to first to push Hill to second, who then moved to third on a bunt hit by Courtney Gearlds. Hill scored from third to tie the game at 2-2, as she was able to break for home as a throw would get away from the fielders as Gearlds stole second.
A frame later, Hill started a two-out rally in the top of the sixth with a single down the right field line. After a Hanawahine walk, Gearlds hit a slow roller that received help from an unexpected hope to shoot over the fielder’s glove into right center allowing both runners to move up two bases, as well as a 3-2 lead. The Tigers would extend the lead to two runs as Gearlds held up between bases to give Hanawahine time to score from third on a double-steal.
The Lobos would bounce back in the bottom of the inning by taking advantage of a Tiger mishap. Naomi Tellez used the extra at bat for UNM in the sixth with a two-run bomb to left field to tie the game at 4-4.
TSU continued the pressure on the Lobos in the top of the seventh inning as Kate Morris earned her second walk of the game and was followed by the second hit of the game by Lindsey Burgess. Two batters later, Tayler Shimizu hit a ground ball too short for a potential double play. Morris was able to avoid the tag and Burgess slid into second in time to cause a bobble, giving the Tigers bases loaded for Kiarra Freeman. The sophomore fell behind in the count 0-2 and battled her way back for a walk six pitches later, giving the Tigers a 5-4 lead as Morris crossed home plate.
Hill stepped to the plate and made her presence felt again as she delivered a ball into center on a line drive, pushing Burgess home for a 6-4 lead.
Starter Shea Morris would make the score hold up as she retired the Lobos in the bottom half of the last inning. Morris improved to 3-3 allowing four runs, two earned, and six hits while striking out six.
Shimizu finished 1-for-4 on the day as she collected a leadoff single in the second inning. Shimizu would eventually score in the inning on a passed ball that gave TSU an early 1-0 lead.
The Tigers completed their trip through Arizona 2-4. Gearlds led Tennessee State over six games with a .467 average. Hanawahine hit the lone home run on the week and scored five runs. Kate Morris finished with three doubles and five RBI.
Tennessee State returns home to host the Tiger Classic Feb. 21-23. All games can be heard on tsutigers.com.
TENNESSEE TECH 9, KENNESAW STATE 3
KENNESAW, Ga. - Behind an eight-run third inning that saw the Tennessee Tech softball team record nine-straight hits, the Golden Eagles cruised to their first victory of the season, defeating Kennesaw State 9-3 in the finale of a three-game series.
Already leading 1-0 after senior Kendall Hooper touched up home on a wild pitch in the first, Tech (1-7) exploded to the tune of eight runs on nine hits, sending 13 to the plate in the top of the third.
Hooper began offensive barrage with a one-out triple to right center for her second hit of the game, scoring one batter later thanks to an Olivia Bennett single through the left side to give TTU a 2-0 edge. After a Kennesaw State (4-3) pitching change, junior Hannah Eldridge doubled to right field, setting up the Golden Eagles for a big inning with runners on second and third and still only one down.
Fellow junior Angi Sakamoto put Tech ahead 3-0 with a single to right to plate Bennett, which was followed by the biggest blow of the inning, a three-run home run off the bat of senior Chelsea Burgess to push the Golden Eagles to a 6-0 advantage. It was the second round tripper in as many days for Burgess, putting her in a tie for the team lead in long balls with Bennett and Sakamoto, who also have two.
Tech still wasn't satisfied leading 6-0 as the Golden Eagles proceeded to single four straight times, scoring three more runs behind some shaky Owl defense as well. Red-shirt junior Christian Gibbs began the row of singles with an infield knock, which was followed by a Madison Taylor hit to left to put runners on first and second.
Sophomore Cortney Fry's single plated two Golden Eagles, with Gibbs scoring on the hit, and Taylor touching up home on a KSU throwing error. Freshman Gabby Perez put a ribbon on the eight-run frame, singling through the right side to score Fry to give the Golden Eagles a 9-0 advantage.
When it was all said and done it took three Owl pitchers to get through the third inning with each Tech player in the lineup picking up a base knock.
The nine-run cushion was more than enough for freshman Danielle Liberatore (1-3), who picked up her first collegiate victory by tossing six innings and allowing three runs on ten hits, walking two, and striking out four.
Kennesaw State starter Morgan Sikes (0-1) suffered her first loss of the season, going 2.1 innings on the afternoon, surrendering three runs (two earned) on three hits with one walk and zero punch outs.
Tech will get back to tournament action with the Frost Classic hosted by UT Chattanooga, scheduled for Feb. 21-23. The Golden Eagles will play five times in the span of just three days, squaring off with Toledo and Ohio on Friday, Campbell and Northwestern State on Saturday, and Radford on Sunday.
SOUTHEAST MISSSOURI 2, GRAMBLING 0
MONROE, La. - Freshman Keaira Schilling struck out 11 and tossed a complete game shutout, as Southeast Missouri (3-2) blanked Grambling State (0-4), 2-0, Sunday afternoon in the final day of the Mardi Gras Classic.
Schilling recorded at least two strikeouts in each of the second, third, fifth and sixth innings en route to her first career win.
Offensively, Southeast gave Schilling enough run support by scoring once in the first and sixth frames.
Alexis Anderson grabbed the Redhawks an early 1-0 advantage on a leadoff solo home run in the bottom of the first. Anderson homered for the second-straight time against the Tigers.
Southeast's other tally was aided by an error with no outs in the sixth inning. Chelsea Smith led off with an infield single. Summer Burger then reached on a sacrifice-bunt and both runners advanced due to an error. With runners at second and third, Leah Duffe fouled out to right field and Smith touched home for an unearned run to push the Redhawks lead to 2-0.
Grambling State threatened in the top of the seventh with runners at first and second and no outs. Smith, however, picked off Ivory Nichols for a big out at first base. Schilling then got Jasmyn Dunning to pop up to first and Angela Perez to ground out to short.
Schilling allowed just four hits in her complete game gem. She also walked five and faced 31 hitters. Additionally, Schilling's 11 strikeouts fell just two shy of matching Southeast's single-game record of 13 set by Giana Zimmerman in 2009.
Perez suffered the loss for the Tigers. She worked six innings, allowing six hits and two runs. She struck out four and walked one, as well.
Southeast had six hits on the day, including two by Smith. She was 2-for-3 with a run scored. Anderson, Savannah Carpenter, Haylee Krack and Kelsey Gass accounted for the other hits.
The Redhawks return to action to face Lipscomb and Loyola-Chicago at the Blues City Classic on Feb. 22
JACKSONVILLE STATE 5, CHARLESTON SOUTHERN 2
CHARLESTON, S.C. - - Freshman Brooke Carvey tossed five innings of one-hit softball in relief for the Jacksonville State softball team on Sunday, guiding the Gamecocks to a 5-2 win over Charleston Southern.
The Gamecocks (7-3) got to Buccaneers (6-2-1) ace Cheyenne Gandara in the first on a Kalee Tabor two-run homer and turned to Carvey to hang on for her first career win and the deciding game of the CSU Tounament.
The freshman from North Port, Fla., entered the game with a one-run lead in the third and shut down the Bucs en route to handing them just their second loss of the season, both to JSU. She struck out two and walked one, while allowing one hit in five scoreless innings.
CSU starter Gandara entered the game having allowed just two runs over her first 19 innings in the 2014 season, but the Gamecocks touched her for two in the first. Tabor's fifth home run of the season drove in her 12th and 13th RBI of the year and gave JSU an early 2-0 lead.
Gamecock starter Casey Akenberger had to work early, working around two baserunners in each of the first two innings but keeping the Buccaneers off of the scoreboard.
Two days after stranding 12 runners in a 3-0 loss to Gandara, the Gamecocks got another opportunity in the third. They loaded the bases with no outs after a Taylor Sloan single, Sara Borders double and a Tabor hit-by-pitch, but they were only able to plate one on a Cadi Oliver fielder's choice to the middle of the infield.
The Buccaneers cut their deficit to 3-2 quickly in the bottom of the third, when Marci Christian and Jessica Brock went back-to-back over the center field wall and chased Casey Akenberger from the circle after giving up two runs on six hits in just over two innings of work.
Carvey entered the game in relief of Akenberger after the two homers and worked around an error to hold the lead at 3-2.
CSU went to its bullpen to start the fourth and JSU answered quickly. Jennifer Giles hit Hayden Crawford to lead off the top of the inning and a Stephanie Lewis single set the stage for back-to-back RBI hits for Taylor Sloan and Borders to stretch the Gamecocks lead to 5-2.
Carvey retired the final 10 batters she faced and allowed just one base runner past the fourth inning to grab the win and help JSU cap a 4-1 record in the tournament.
Gandara, a freshman, (2-1) suffered the first loss of her young career after allowing three runs on four hits in three innings of work. Giles threw the final four frames and surrendered two runs on four hits. Both CSU pitchers struck out two JSU batters.
JSU will return to action on Tuesday, when the Gamecocks play a doubleheader at Alabama A&M in Huntsville. The first game will begin at 1 p.m. and will start a week of six in-state games. They will play four games in the Wilson/DeMarini Classic hosted by Auburn beginning Friday afternoon.
MURRAY STATE 8, ALABAMA A&M 0
MONTGOMERY, Ala. - The Murray State softball team shutout Alabama A&M, 8-0, on Sunday afternoon in Montgomery to win the Alabama State Hornet Invitational with a 3-0 record. At 5-2 overall on the season, the Racers are off to the best start in the five-year history of the program.
While there was no actual set championship game for the tournament, MSU entered the game at 2-0 on the weekend, while Bulldogs had won each of its previous three games, setting up the de facto title tilt. The Racers jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the contest with a sacrifice fly from Alexa Becker in the first and a RBI single from Maggie Glass in the second. Glass pushed the score out to 3-0 when she went yard in the fourth for the first home run of her collegiate career.
Murray State busted the game wide open in the fifth when it tacked on four runs in the bottom part of the frame. The inning opened with Cayla Levins reaching on an error, which was immediately followed by another error that allowed Levins and the batter, Shelbey Miller, to score. Alexa Becker made it 6-0 two batters later with a double that drove in Mo Ramsey, who also reached on error. MSU capped of the inning with a sacrifice fly from Casey Castile that allowed Becker to cross the plate, pushing the lead to 7-0.
In the sixth, Mallory Young got her second hit of the weekend in pinch hit attempts to put the would-be winning run on first with one out. In the next at-bat, Erica Howard hit a pinch hit double to drive in Young and end the game via the 8-run rule.
J.J. Francis (1-1) tossed the first complete game shutout of her career on Sunday, as she allowed no runs on three hits with three strikeouts over six innings of work. Francis had a no-hitter working until the fifth inning, marking the second time in as many games that a Racer had a no-no bid ended the fifth. Mason Robinson, like Francis on Sunday, had her attempt broken up by a lead-off single in the fifth on Saturday against Alabama A&M.
On Friday, the Racers will travel to Southaven, Miss., for five games the Blues City Classic hosted by the University of Memphis. While in the Land of the Delta Blues, Murray State will take on Appalachian State, Evansville, Ball State, Loyola Chicago and Lipscomb.
BELMONT18, SAMFORD 8
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Belmont softball head coach Chris Kuhlmeyer came into the season with high offensive hopes for the 2014 Bruins. Belmont showed its potential Sunday afternoon in Birmingham, Ala. as the bats came alive as BU scored 18 runs, off 18 hits, and the Bruins went on to defeat host Samford, 18-8, in their final contest of the weekend at the 2014 Samford Tournament.
The Bruins jumped out to the early advantage in the first inning as a Jessica Wilson (Alvin, Tex.) started the scoring with an RBI single up the middle. Junior Kat Hollingsworth (Carrollton, Tex.) drove in another run off a sacrifice fly as the Bruins jumped out to the early 2-0 advantage.
Belmont (3-5) extended its lead in the second inning off a two-run blast from Taylor Moon (Vestavia, Ala.) as the Bruins went up, 4-0, over the host Bulldogs.
Samford (7-2) tightened up the contest in the home half of the second inning as the Bulldogs scored three runs off a pair of hits in order to draw within one. The home team tied up the contest at 4 all in the bottom of the third off an RBI triple from sophomore Callie Brister.
The Bruins quickly broke the stalemate by reeling off six runs in the top of the fourth inning as Belmont pulled ahead, 10-4.
Kirbie Ferrell (Pasadena, Tex.) led off the fourth inning offensive explosion with an RBI double that drove in a pair of runs. Wilson followed that with an RBI single that added to the Bruin lead.
Hollingsworth capped off the inning with a three-run home run to right field as Belmont took the commanding advantage over the Bulldogs.
Samford refused to go away, however, as the Bulldogs countered Belmont's offensive barrage with one of their own, scoring four runs in the home half of the fouth inning to pull within two, 10-8.
In the decisive sixth inning, the Bruin bats went from hot to on fire as Belmont put the game away by scoring eight runs off seven hits, highlighted by a pair of huge swings from Wilson and Turner.
The scoring started when freshman Kayla Wells (Bonney Lake, Wa.) found home plate off a throwing error by Samford catcher Abby Sweeney.
Wilson added to the BU scoring frenzy on the next at bat as the third baseman hit a two-run blast to left-center field.
Following a Hollingsworth single, Heather Turner (Rosenburg, Tex.) took her turn at hitting one out of the ball park as the junior's two run homer became the fourth Bruin of the day to hit a home run.
Wilson and Ferrell continued the Bruins' scoring bombardment as both players knocked in a run as the Bruins finished off the host Bulldogs, 18-8, in six innings, ending the three-day 2014 Samford Tournament on a high note.
The 18 runs marks the most runs scored by a Belmont squad against a Division I team in program history. It's the most runs scored since BU defeated Cumberland University, 23-0, on March 23, 1999.
Ferrell (3-for-4, 3 RBI) senior Ashley Hammer (3-for-3) and Wilson (3-for-5) led the Bruins while Hollingsworth finished 2-for-3 with four runs batted in.
Belmont's Brittanie Albright (Franklin, Tenn.) earned her first win on the year for the Bruins.
Belmont will return to action this Friday as the Bruins travel to Bowling Green, Ky. for their first game of the Hilltopper Spring Fling against the University of Miami (Ohio) at 2 p.m. CT.
IUPUI 10, AUSTIN PEAY 1
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Austin Peay State University’s softball team dropped the rubber game of its three-game weekend series to IUPUI, Sunday at Cheryl Holt Field, 10-1 in five innings.
The Lady Govs (2-6) fell behind quickly, despite getting the first two outs in the top of the first inning, with the Jaguars (4-4) stringing together three straight hits against Lady Govs starter Lauren de Castro.
Sarah Lawrence would get things started with a double to right-center field, followed by a double down the left-field line by Roni Patterson, to make it 1-0 Jaguars.
Ali Mosier then flared a ball into short left field for a single, scoring Patterson from second to make it 2-0.
The score would remain that way until the top of the third inning when the Jaguars broke the game open with a four-run inning – highlighted by a bases-clearing double by Angela Bartucci -- to go up 6-0.
Austin Peay would score its lone run in the bottom of the third on a sacrifice fly to center field by junior Laurel Burroughs, driving in freshman Fatima Larios – who opened the inning by drawing a base on balls.
Freshman Rikki Arkansas would also have a single in the inning, the only hit recorded by the Lady Govs in the loss.
IUPUI would add four more run in the top of the fifth inning, with Mosier driving on one of the runs with a double and two others coming on a home run by Lindsey Richards.
EASTERN KENTUCKY 6, EVANSVILLE 4
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Eastern Kentucky University softball team concluded play at the Samford Invitational with a 6-4 win over Evansville Sunday afternoon. The Colonels (4-5) went 2-2 during the three-day event.
Eastern’s offense came alive in Sunday’s game as the Colonels tallied a season-high 13 hits. Five players recorded multiple hits – freshman Krislyn Campos, senior Nicole Heitz, junior Katie Tackett, senior Christina Ciolek and sophomore Sarah Fobbs. Ciolek also notched a home run for the third consecutive game, a solo shot in the fifth inning.
Evansville (2-2) jumped on top of EKU in the top of the first inning with a pair of runs. However, the Colonels responded quickly in the bottom of the frame with a four runs of their own. Tackett, Mitchell and Fobbs all produced RBI singles in the first.
The Purple Aces evened the score thanks to scoring a two-out run in both the third and fourth innings.
Ciolek gave Eastern the lead for good in the fifth, with a one-out long ball to left field. The native of Richmond, Ky., led the Colonels in batting average (.462), hits (six), runs (four), home runs (three), stolen bases (two) and slugging percentage (1.154) spanning the four games.
Junior pitcher Leanna Pittsenbarger (3-2) came on in relief and did not allow a hit in the final 3.1 innings of play to preserve the win.
Eastern Kentucky returns to action next weekend at the Cardinal Classic hosted by the University of Louisville.
UT MARTIN 6, BOWLING GREEN 6; GEORGIA TECH 8, UT MARTIN 5
ATLANTA, Ga. - The University of Tennessee at Martin softball tallied a rare 6-6 tie against Bowling Green before dropping its final game against Georgia tech 8-5 to close out the Georgia State Panther Invitational.
The Skyhawks (3-4-1) scored 11 runs on the day while tallying one home run and 16 hits on the final day of the Panther Invitational, held on the campus of Georgia Tech. Sophomore Deven Wilson led the way for the Skyhawks with a .500 batting average, tallying three hits including one double and an RBI. Wilson was one of five Skyhawks to tallying two hits or more. Kenzi Tate tallied the team’s lone home run to go along with a pair of hits and one RBI.
Freshman Renate Meckl made the most of her two hits on the afternoon, driving in three RBIs to lead the team. Meckl was joined by classmate Gabby Glenn who tallied three hits, including one double and two RBIs.
Five pitchers saw action inside the circle on the afternoon as Casey Vincent and Elizabeth Wiegand earned starts. Vincent led the team with 4.2 innings pitched, allowing seven hits and four earned runs. Wiegand tossed 3.2 innings, earning her second start of the weekend, allowing four hits and four earned runs.
Game One: UT Martin 6, Bowling Green 6 – Eight Innings
After both teams were held scoreless in the opening two and a half innings of play, combining for three hits, the Skyhawks burst into the score column in the bottom of the third inning. Tate led off the inning with her second home run in as many days, sailing the solo shot over the left field wall. Lauren Smith then singled before being pulled for pinch runner Lindsey Feigl. Feigl then moved from second to third on a successful sacrifice bunt by Meckl. With a runner on third and two outs, Wilson stroked a single through the left side to score Feigl, giving the Skyhawks a 2-0 lead.
Bowling Green (1-6-1) would look to cut into the margin in the ensuing inning, stringing together three consecutive singles to plate one run.
Looking to add some insurance, the Skyhawks tallied an addition three runs in the bottom of the third. Two successful bunt singles by Samantha McClure and Kayla Wade gave the Skyhawks two baserunners with no outs. Freshman Taylor Manning then moved the pair into scoring position on another executed sacrifice bunt, bringing Tate to the plate. Tate would draw a walk to load the bases before the Falcons would allow McClure to score on a wild pitch. Smith would follow the wild pitch with an RBI groundout, plating Wade. The Skyhawks would cap their explosive inning with an RBI single by Meckl through the left side to score Tate, holding a 5-1 lead after four innings.
The Falcons wasted little time tallying three runs in the top of the fifth inning, to trim the Skyhawks advantage from four to just a lone run. BGU would string together a pair of singles before Erica Stratton sailed a three-run home run over the right field wall.
Still trailing by one, Bowling Green would knot the game at 6-6 in the top of the seventh inning. After Stratton drew a walk with one out, she came around to score on an RBI double by Katie Yoho.
In accordance with the tournament format, the game went into an international tie breaker in the eighth inning, placing the last recorded out of the previous inning on second base with no outs. The Skyhawks would retire the first two batters of the inning before a critical infield error allowed the potential winning run to score.
With the Skyhawks trailing by one, Gabby Glenn was placed on second base with no out. Wilson led off the inning by successfully moving Gabby Glenn to third with a sacrifice bunt. Junior Kelsey Dixon would come into the game to pinch hit, recording a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Gabby Glenn to tie the game at 6-6.
Despite the game being tied at 6-6 at the end of eight, the game was called due to travel plans for Bowling Green. The tie is just the fifth tie in program history and second during the Canary era. The last tie came on Feb. 28, 2006 against Middle Tennessee, a game which finished with a final score of 1-1.
Vincent and freshman Tayler Jerrick both earned no decisions in the circle. Vincent tossed 4.2 innings of work, walking four while allowing seven hits and four earned runs. Jerrick appeared in relief, tossing 3.1 innings while striking out three and allowing one earned run on two hits.
Game Two: Georgia Tech 8, UT Martin 5
Neither team wasted much time getting on the board, both scoring in their respective half innings in the first. Georgia Tech (6-1) led off the inning with a pair of singles and a walk to load the bases with no outs. Wiegand would get the ensuing batter with a lineout to the pitcher, but would allow the Yellow Jackets first run of the game on a throwing error to third.
Facing an early deficit, the Skyhawks would make a quick strike to take the lead in the bottom of the first. After retiring the first two batters, Tate would draw a walk. Wilson and Meckl would then tally back-to-back singles to score Tate. Wilson would then come around to score the second run of the game off a Gabby Glenn single through the right side to take the 2-1 lead.
Gabby Glenn would continue her impressive afternoon in the bottom of the third. After Tate led off the inning with a walk, Gabby Glenn would stroke a double into left field to score Tate.
The Yellow Jackets would respond to the three unanswered runs by the Skyhawks by exploding for five runs in the top of the fourth. With the bases loaded following a single and a pair of walks and one out, the Skyhawks would proceed to walk the next three batters, bringing in three Georgia Tech baserunners. Following the trio of walks, Karly Fullem would tally the knockout with a two-run double to give the Yellow Jackets the 6-3 advantage.
Georgia Tech would chip on a run in both the sixth and seventh innings before the Skyhawks would look to make their final statements in the seventh frame. Manning would lead off the inning with a walk before Tate moved her from first to third on a double to right center. Senior Stephanie Nidiffer would check in to pinch hit for Wilson, registering an RBI sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Manning. Tate would score the game’s final run on a RBI groundout by Meckl but would not be enough to pick up the win, dropping the game by a score of 8-5.
Wiegand got the start for the Skyhawks, tossing 3.2 innings while issuing five walks and allowing four earned runs. Sophomore Autumn Glenn got the loss, dishing out two walks and allowing one earned run in 0.1 innings of work. Freshman Brooke Kennedy made her Skyhawk debut, tossing 3.0 innings of relief. Kennedy struck out one while walking two and allowing one earned run.
UT Martin will return to action next week when they travel to Ole Miss for the Red and Blue Classic starting on Friday, Feb. 21-23. The Skyhawks will open the five-game tournament against Buffalo on Friday at 3:45 p.m.