By Alex Boggis, UT Martin Assistant Sports Information Director
NATCHITOCHES, La. – The University of Tennessee at Martin softball team opened the season with a big offensive day en route to a split with a win over Chattanooga (7-1) before a late rally fell just short against Baylor (8-6) at the Lady Demon Classic.
The Skyhawks (1-1) posted a .304 batting average on the day while driving in 13 runs on the first day of the season. The squad tallied 13 hits while six players had multiple base knocks on the afternoon.
The trio of Shyanne Sheffield, Kallie Pickens and Katie Dreiling paced the Skyhawks with three hits each on the day. UT Martin hit three home runs in the two games with sophomores Maddi Long, Kaci Fuller and Dreiling each going deep. Long led the team with four RBIs while Fuller drove in three and Dreiling had a pair of RBIs in her Skyhawk debut.
On the pitching side, the Skyhawks posted a 1.62 ERA in 13 innings of work. All-OVC performer Alexis Groet (1-0, 0.00 ERA) picked up her first win of the season after pitching five innings in the season opener against Chattanooga where she struck out seven, allowed one hit and issued zero walks. Emily Brown (0-1, 63.00 ERA) earned the start against Baylor where she struggled, allowing eight runs (three earned) in one-third of an inning. After the starters, the bullpen was nearly flawless as Erin Gallagher, Seeley Layne and Katie Dreiling combined to pitch 7.2 scoreless innings while allowing one hit.
Game 1: UT Martin 7, Chattanooga 1
The season opener began with Chattanooga jumping out to an early lead. The Mocs saw their second batter of the inning reach on a fielding error before she swiped second base to move into scoring position. With the run sitting at second, Presley Williamson put the Mocs on top with a double to left center to take a 1-0 advantage.
The game’s deficit would be short-lived however as UT Martin responded with four runs in the bottom of the first. Back-to-back walks to Sheffield and Dreiling, followed by a groundout, put the two runners in scoring position with two outs. With a prime scoring opportunity at hand, Kallie Pickens laced a single into left field to tie the game at one run each. Following the single, the Skyhawks still had runners on the corners before Fuller hit an opposite field home run to left which cleared the bases and put the squad on top 4-1.
The score would remain at it’s three-run margin until the bottom of the third inning. Back-to-back singles by Kaitlyn Kelley and Pickens were followed by a sacrifice bunt to move the pair into scoring position. Looking to pad the game’s advantage, Tennessee transfer Anna Hazlewood picked up her first RBI in a Skyhawk uniform via a groundout to the right side which pushed Kelley across the plate.
UT Martin added another run in the bottom of the fifth inning. With two outs on the board, Fuller picked up her second hit of the game with a single to third to continue the frame. After a fielder’s choice and an error moved Fuller over to second, the speedster later came around to score on a single up the middle by Long to make it a 6-1 contest.
Following a strong pitching performance by Groet out of the starting spot and a scoreless inning of relief by Layne, the Skyhawks put the game’s final run on the board in the bottom of the sixth. A pair of singles by Sheffield and Dreiling set the stage before Kelley notched her first RBI of the young season with a hit to center to bring Sheffield around to score.
Game 2: Baylor 8, UT Martin 6
Baylor jumped out to a big lead in the first inning and never looked back, plating eight while having 11 reach base. After an innocent groundout to start the frame, the Bears saw their next 11 batters reach base by either a base knock, a pair of errors and three hit batters. The Bears received RBI contributions from Sydney Collazos, Kendall Cross, Emily Hott, McKenzie Wilson and Ana Watson in the first to take a sizable advantage.
UT Martin finally got on the board and began to chip away at the deficit in the top of the third. A leadoff walk to Hazlewood and a single up the middle by Paige Clark put a pair of runners on the bags. Needing a big two-out hit, Sheffield singled up the middle to score Hazlewood from second.
The Skyhawks found a big blast from Dreiling in the top of the fifth to take a bite out of the margin. Following a two-out walk by Sheffield, Dreiling hit an opposite field home run down the left field line to bring the score to 8-3.
Looking to keep things interesting, the Skyhawks found three more runs on three hits in the top of the sixth. A pair of walks to Pickens and Hazlewood set up the inning before Long launched the team’s third home run of the day with a three-run blast to left field. While UT Martin tallied another walk and two more singles in the frame, it could not chip away at the margin anymore before suffering an 8-6 setback.
The University of Tennessee at Martin softball team exploded for nine runs in a shutout victory over Arkansas Pine Bluff (9-0) in the third game of the NSU Lady Demon Classic on Saturday morning before dropping a one-run decision to host Northwestern State (1-0) in the tournament finale.
The Skyhawks (2-2) posted 15 hits on the afternoon while hitting .288 as a team and tallying nine runs. The All-OVC trio of Kaitlyn Kelley, Kaci Fuller and Paige Clark each tallied three hits on the day while Emily Gilstrap led the team with a pair of RBIs.
UT Martin excelled in the pitching circle where it posted a 0.64 ERA in 11 innings of work while combining to strikeout 11 and walk just one. Seeley Layne (1-0, 0.00 ERA) picked up a win in the first game of the day after striking out four and allowing just one hit in three innings of scoreless work. Alexis Groet (0-1, 0.70 ERA) suffered the loss against Northwestern State after allowing an earned run on a solo home run in five innings. After the starters, the bullpen was spotless for the second straight day as Erin Gallagher, Emily Brown and Abigail Kubin each pitched scoreless innings of relief.
Game 3: UT Martin 9, Arkansas Pine Bluff 0 (Five innings)
UT Martin scored early and often in the first game of the day against Arkansas Pine Bluff. Shyanne Sheffield got the first started by drawing a walk and swiping second to move into scoring position. Needing just a base hit to score her, Kelley drove a single to center and took an early 1-0 advantage.
The Skyhawks added another run in the top of the second inning when Fuller reached on an error to start the frame before moving into scoring position with a stolen base. The following at bat saw Anna Hazlewood single to center and bring the speedster home on the play.
After a wild pitch led to Clark scoring the game’s third run in the top of the third inning, the Skyhawks added to their advantage with two more runs in the fourth. Back-to-back hits by Gilstrap and Maddi Long moved the pair into scoring position at second and third with no outs. The following play saw a wild pitch score another run before Clark made it a 5-0 contest with a RBI later in the frame.
With UT Martin leading by five runs heading to the fifth inning, the squad looked to end the game early with a big inning. Four consecutive singles by Kelley, Kallie Pickens and Fuller was capped off by a two-run single Gilstrap to break the game open. The Skyhawks added two more runs later in the frame with a RBI groundout by Anna Blanton before an error gave the visitors on the scoreboard a 9-0 advantage and ultimately ended the game early after a scoreless bottom half of the inning.
Game 4: Northwestern State 1, UT Martin 0
The second game of the day featured a pitchers’ duel with both teams combining for to allow just one earned run.
Northwestern State was able to get the game’s deciding run in the bottom of the second inning when Kat Marshall launched a solo home run to left center which ultimately proved to be the game-winner.
The Skyhawks had their best scoring opportunity in the top of the fourth inning when they had three players reach base as Katie Dreiling and Pickens both drew walks. With two runners on base, Fuller singled to second base but the Skyhawks were caught trying to score on the play with a play at the plate to strand a pair of runners.
UT Martin will return to action on with four games in the Gata Challenge hosted by Georgia Southern next week from Feb. 18-19.
Graphic Courtesy of UT Martin Sports Information