By Alex Boggis, UT Martin Assistant Sports Information Director
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The University of Tennessee at Martin softball team exploded for 26 runs between a pair of victories over Indiana State (10-4) and IUPUI (16-6) to sweep the opening day of the Blues City Classic this evening.
The Skyhawks (11-5) posted a blistering .375 batting average on the afternoon while six different players recorded multiple base hits in the doubleheader. Sophomore Avry Blume paced the team with five hits on the day – including her third home run – to drive in six RBIs. Junior Kallie Pickens also posted a big performance after tallying a pair of doubles, a grand slam and six RBIs.
The pair of Katie Dreiling and Paige Clark also excelled by tallying four hits each along with a pair of RBIs for both individuals. Other top performances included a 3-for-4 day from Kaci Fuller who scored three runs scored and a stolen base while slugger Kaitlyn Kelley bashed her third home run of the season and tallied four RBIs in the twinbill.
On the pitching side the veteran pair of Erin Gallagher (4-0, 1.91 ERA) and Alexis Groet (4-2, 1.70 ERA) each picked up victories in their respective starts. Gallagher led the Skyhawks to a comeback win over Indiana State after striking out three and allowing three earned runs in 6.1 innings of work. In the win over Memphis, Groet struck out three and walked zero in three scoreless innings. Sophomore Emily Brown posted a scoreless relief appearance while Dreiling also notched a strong performance by striking out three in 1.2 perfect innings.
Game 15: UT Martin 10, Indiana State 4
Indiana State jumped out to an early lead in the contest with three unanswered runs through the first four innings. The Sycamores score in the bottom of the first innings following a RBI single to left field by Isabella Henning to give the squad the quick 1-0 advantage. The lead later grew to three runs in the bottom of the fourth when Henning tallied her second RBI-single of the game – this time driving in two runs with a hit to centerfield.
After being held scoreless for the first four innings, UT Martin jumped onto the board in a big way in the top of the fifth inning. Back-to-back singles led off the innings by Clark and Dreiling before Kelley drove in the team’s first run with a sacrifice fly to right field. The Skyhawks then added two more runs later in the inning when an error scored two runs to tie the contest at three runs apiece. The visitors on the scoreboard were not done as Blume gave the Skyhawks the lead with a single through the left side before the team’s fifth hit of the inning – coming off the bat of Emily Gilstrap – put the squad on top 5-3.
The Skyhawks added three more runs in the top of the sixth as a pair of leadoff walks were followed by a two-run double down the left field line by Pickens. Then with runners on second and third, a wild pitch got away and allowed Pickens to come home on the play and bring the margin out to 8-3.
UT Martin’s late-inning offensive outburst continued in the top of the seventh as Clark tallied her second hit of the contest to set up Kelley for a two-run home run over the left field wall for her third of the season. With the home run, the Skyhawks took a 10-3 advantage into the bottom of the seventh.
Indiana State squeaked across one last run in the bottom of the seventh inning. After back-to-back doubles in the inning left two runners at second and third, an error on the potential final out of the contest brought the score to its final mark of 10-4 and a Skyhawk victory.
Game 16: UT Martin 16, IUPUI 6
In the second game of the doubleheader, it was UT Martin who jumped out early with a huge 10-run inning in the second frame. The Skyhawks tallied six hits in the inning while the first six players reached base to start the outburst including hits by Fuller and Blume while both Shyanne Sheffield and Maddi Long drew walks.
A bases loaded walk to Long started a string of four straight plate appearances resulting in a RBI followed by a fielder’s choice from Clark, a sacrifice fly from Dreiling and single through the left side by Kelley to score four runs. Later in the frame, with the bases still juiced, Pickens launched a grand slam for her second home run of the season. The squad still wasn’t done as Blume capped off the big inning with a two-run home run to left center to make it 10-0.
The Skyhawks added four more runs in the top of the fourth inning as consecutive walks to lead off the frame came back to haunt the Jaguars as Blume singled to left field to drive in her fourth run of the day. Following a RBI groundout off the bat of Anna Blanton, a single by Clark and a double by Dreiling, UT Martin’s advantage now sat at 14 runs.
IUPUI cracked the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth inning with six runs. The Jaguars received RBI hits by Kendal Calvert, Mackenzie Myars, Victoria Silvert and Maicey Bedrick in the frame as the team strung together six hits to cut the deficit down to 14-6.
UT Martin capped off its electric hitting performance with two more runs in the top of the fifth. Following a walk and a single earlier in the inning, Blume came through with yet another big hit to drive in two more of her six RBIs on the day with a single to left center to push the margin back out to 10 runs and the game’s final score of 16-6.
The University of Tennessee at Martin softball team eclipsed double-digits in the scoring column for the third straight game on its way to a 10-4 road victory over Memphis on Sunday afternoon to clinch a sweep of the Blues City Classic.
The Skyhawks (12-5) pushed their winning streak to seven games after scoring 10 or more runs for the third consecutive game in the Blues City Classic – including a 10-run performance against tournament host Memphis on Sunday. UT Martin scratched out eight hits on the afternoon and seven RBIs while using good situational execution to successfully capitalize on four sacrifice opportunities which led to big scoring innings.
The trio of Paige Clark, Katie Dreiling and Kallie Pickens each led the team with two hits each on the day. Pickens paced the team with a pair of doubles while Kaitlyn Kelley recorded a game-high three RBIs to bring her total up to 12 for the week. Along with the team’s work in the batter’s box, the Skyhawks also tallied four stolen bases with Clark leading the way with two to bring her career total up to 82 to move into a tie for third all-time in program history while Anna Blanton and Avry Blume each swiped one.
Junior pitcher Alexis Groet earned her fifth win of the season after striking out three and allowing zero earned runs in 4.2 innings of action in her seventh start. Dreiling appeared in relief where she allowed one hit and one earned run in 2.1 innings of work.
The Skyhawks wasted very little time getting on the scoreboard in the final game of the tournament by scratching across four runs in the top of the first inning. The game started with a single through the left side by Clark before she swiped second base to move into scoring position. After Dreiling drew a walk, Kelley brought the speedster in from second with a single down the left field line to put the road team on the board. The following play featured an error by the Tigers which resulted in two runs crossing the plate before Pickens continued her hot weekend by doubling to center for the team’s fourth run.
UT Martin kept up its offensive momentum in the second inning by doubling up the score and taking an 8-0 advantage. The frame started off similarly as the first inning with Clark and Dreiling both reaching base on singles before Kelley drove in a run with a sacrifice fly to right field. With pinch runner Blanton also advancing to third on the sacrifice fly, she came home to score on the next at bat as a sacrifice bunt by Hazlewood was once again misplayed resulting in the second run of the inning. Following Pickens’ second double of the game and a walk by Kaci Fuller, a costly errant ball plunked Shyanne Sheffield to score the team’s seventh run before a wild pitch on the ensuing at bat gave the squad an eight-run cushion.
Memphis finally broke into the scoring column in the bottom of the third inning to cut into the deficit. A double off the bat of Gracie Morton started the rally before scoring on a Skyhawk error. Then later in the frame, Taylor Smrt tallied the team’s first RBI with a single to left center to score Alexis Dale and bring the margin to 8-2.
The Skyhawks added two more run in the top of the seventh inning after a pair of walks to Sheffield and Clark put a runner in scoring position set up the frame. The big hit of the inning came off the bat of Dreiling who singled to right field to score Sheffield before Clark came home on the next play from a well-placed sacrifice bunt by Kelley to make the score 10-2.
While Memphis added two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning of a RBI groundout by E’Mya Munford and the Skyhawks’ second error of the contest – the game was well in hand as UT Martin earned the tournament sweep with a 10-4 victory.
UT Martin will wrap up the tournament portion of the 2022 schedule next week with matchups against Middle Tennessee and Illinois State on Friday, March 11 at the MTSU Invitational.
Graphic courtesy of UT Martin Sports Information