FRIDAY'S SCORES
Tennessee Tech 4, @Tennessee State 3
@Southeast Missouri 6, Austin Peay 5
@UT Martin 10, Murray State 4
TENNESSEE TECH 4, TENNESSEE STATE 3
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Tennessee Tech was able to get Michelle DePolo her first Ohio Valley Conference win on Friday, but Tennessee State made it interesting as the Tigers collected two runs and left the game-tying run on second in the bottom of the seventh.
The Golden Eagles won the game 4-3 and improve their record to 6-7 on the season, 1-0 in the OVC.
Tech will close out the series with the Tigers with a doubleheader Saturday, starting at 1 p.m.
Alyssa Arden picked up the complete-game victory to improve to 4-4 on the season. Against the Tigers, she allowed three runs on four hits, while walking five and striking out seven. Her counterpart, Lauren Powell, struck out eight across seven frames, allowing four runs on eight hits.
With one down in the bottom of the seventh, Bri Vire and Ivory Jones reached on a walk and hit-by-pitch respectively, then Renae Spears hit a fly ball to right field deep enough to advance the runners. Savanah Wallace roped a double down the left field line to plate the two runners to make it a 4-3 game, but Arden was able to coax a fly ball out to Jessie Lowery in left to end the game.
Three Golden Eagles were able to collect two hits in the contest as Lowery was 2-for-4 with two RBI, while Haeli Bryson was 2-for-3 with an RBI, while Chandler Caldwell was 2-for-2 with two runs scored.
The first two frames were silent for both sides, but Tech struck first in the top of the third. Caldwell took first on a walk, then a wild pitch allowed her to take second. Lowery knocked the ball through the short to bring Caldwell home.
A second run scored in the fourth as Nicolle Nysted doubled to right. Hannah Richter came in as a pinch runner and advanced to third on a 2-3 strikeout for Carmen Betts. Richter was moving quickly as Bryson drilled a single up the middle to take a 2-0 lead.
TSU scored its first run in the fifth as the Tigers loaded the bases, then a hit batter pushed the run across.
In the seventh, Tech plated two more runs as Bryson led off with a single to second base. Shelby Penning came in to run, stealing second, then taking third on Caldwell’s single back to the circle. As the Tigers tried to catch Caldwell stealing second, the ball got away and Penning came home to score. Lowery finished the Tech scoring with a double down the left line to bring Caldwell home.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 6, AUSTIN PEAY 5
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Shortstop Alyson Tucker's two-run home run in the bottom of the fifth inning lifted Preseason Ohio Valley Conference favorite Southeast Missouri (3-8, 1-0) to a 6-5 win over Austin Peay (5-3, 0-1) Friday afternoon at the Southeast Softball Complex.
With the win, SEMO improved to 19-10 all-time in OVC openers and began league play with a win for the eighth time in 11 seasons.
APSU led, 5-4, after four-and-a-half innings when Tucker slugged the first home run of her Redhawk career over the left field wall with one out. Tucker knocked in pinch-runner Kelby Robinson who entered the game after Ashley Ellis walked.
Left-hander Marisa Davis, who relieved Rachel Rook with two outs in the top of the fifth inning, shutout APSU for the final 2.1 innings to earn her first win of the year.
After striking out Kelsey Gray to start the seventh, Bailey Shorter and Brooke Pfefferle each single to give the Governors runners at first and second. Then, Kaylee Anderson made a nice catch in right field. On the next play, Kelsey Gross singled to Tucker who threw out Shorter after she rounded third base.
SEMO fell behind, 2-0, in the top of the first inning, but quickly tied things up when K. Anderson hit a two-run home run to left. Anderson's round-tripper marked her team-high third of 2021.
The Redhawks took their first lead in the bottom of the second when they scored a pair of runs with the help of a hit by Rachel Anderson and two errors. Jillian Anderson touched home on one of those miscues when she stole third and R. Anderson scored to give SEMO a 4-2 advantage.
A solo home run by Drew Dudley in the top of the fourth inning and a RBI-double by Gross regained a 5-4 edge for the Governors before SEMO pulled away.
Tucker went 1-for-3 with a run scored and two RBI, while R. Anderson went 2-for-3 with two runs to lead SEMO. K. Anderson and Ellis accounted for one hit apiece. K. Anderson extended her hitting streak to six games.
Harley Mullins (1-3) suffered the loss for APSU. Mullins struck out two, walked four and allowed six runs on five hits. She worked five innings.
UT MARTIN 10, MURRAY STATE 4
MARTIN, Tenn. -The University of Tennessee at Martin softball team showed its offensive promise this afternoon in its home debut at Bettye Giles Field, powering pasting Ohio Valley Conference rival Murray State 10-4.
The Skyhawks (7-2, 1-0 OVC) got off on the right foot in conference play after the entire league slate was canceled in 2020 due to COVID. After waiting 673 days between conference matchups, UT Martin broke through with four runs in the third inning and kept its foot on the gas from there en route to 10 runs on the day.
Five different players tallied multiple base hits on the afternoon including Kaci Fuller, Kallie Pickens, Kaitlyn Kelley, Aalia Bivens and Paige Clark. Kelley posted arguably the game’s biggest knock, blasting her OVC-leading fifth home run of the season while continuing her streak of four consecutive games with a homer with a two-run blast in the fourth.
Senior Hannah Ridolfi (3-0, 1.88 ERA) continued her impressive season by allowing just one earned run in 4.1 innings of work to pick up the victory. Junior Seeley Layne also appeared in relief, tossing 2.2 innings of work.
Murray State (3-13, 0-1 OVC) jumped out to an early lead in the top of the third inning as Chloe Jacque keyed a two-out rally with an infield single before swiping second to move into scoring position. After a walk to put to a pair of runners on, the Racers got on the board following a RBI single by Jensen Striegel to center field to take a 1-0 advantage.
UT Martin quickly answered in the bottom half of the inning and would never trail again. Macey Neal led off the inning with a double to left center before moving over to third on a bunt single by Fuller. After a stolen base by Fuller put both freshmen in scoring position, Chelsey Gore brought both runners in to score with a RBI bunt single and a defensive miscue to take a 2-1 lead. They added to the margin two batters later when Kelley mashed a two-run home run to right center to take a three-run advantage.
The Skyhawks continued to grow their lead in the bottom of the fourth on a RBI groundout by Neal to score Clark. Then on the next play, the lead grew to five runs on another RBI groundout – this time on a sacrifice by Maddi Long to bring the score to 6-1.
Murray State scratched together its final comeback attempt in the top of the sixth inning after three straight base hits by Lily Fischer, Sierra Gilmore and Lindsey Carroll. Following the RBI single by Carroll, the Racers added two more RBIs from Kamryn Carcich and Taylor Jackson to bring the contest to a 6-4 margin.
The Skyhawks put the finishing touches on a strong home debut with four runs in the bottom of the sixth. After opening the frame with two early outs, the Skyhawks rallied behind a RBI double by Fuller followed by a successful double-steal later in the inning to plate a pair. The home team put two more insurance runs on the board in the inning via RBI singles by Pickens and Bivens to make it a 10-4 contest.
UT Martin will play the final two games of the three-game series against Murray State on Saturday, March 6. The doubleheader will begin at 1 p.m. at Bettye Giles Field.