By Alex Boggis, UT Martin Assistant Sports Information Director
MARTIN, Tenn. – The University of Tennessee at Martin softball team used two big home runs to power its way past visiting Tennessee Tech on Saturday afternoon with an 8-4 victory to open Ohio Valley Conference play at Bettye Giles Field.
The Skyhawks (14-7, 1-0 OVC) entered the contest as the league’s top scoring offense and lived up to that billing by scoring eight runs on the afternoon. UT Martin tallied eight hits in the contest with six of those going for singles while a pair of home runs by Katie Dreiling and Kaitlyn Kelley highlighted significant scoring innings in the third and fourth.
Tennessee Tech (17-7, 0-1 OVC) came into the contest riding an eight-game winning streak and took an early advantage by scoring two runs in the top of the third inning on a leadoff home run by Savannah Talley and a RBI single by Sydney Love-Baker. While UT Martin had tallied a hit in each of the first two innings, it was the team’s third hit which proved to be a difference maker as a two-run home run off the bat of Dreiling sailed over the batter’s eye in deep centerfield to tie the game at 2-2.
UT Martin kept its momentum going in the bottom of the fourth inning where it exploded for six runs in the frame. The Skyhawks tallied four hits over the course of the inning as Kaci Fuller led off with a single up the middle before Shyanne Sheffield walked to put two runners on. Following a sacrifice bunt by Avry Blume to move the pair into scoring position, Anna Hazlewood put down a perfect bunt of her own to reach base and secure a RBI to put the home squad on top. The Skyhawks added two more runs on the ensuing pair of at-bats with a RBI groundout by Emily Gilstrap followed by a single down the left field line by Paige Clark to take a 5-2 advantage.
With a lead in hand, the Skyhawks were still not done scoring in the fourth inning as Dreiling worked a five-pitch walk with two outs. As runners stood on first and second, Kelley put the game out of reach with her fourth home run of the season coming on a three-run laser over the left field wall to bring the score to 8-2.
The Golden Eagles chipped away at the deficit with a two-run shot of their own in the top of the fifth inning by Haeli Bryson but Tech would get no closer than the final margin of 8-4 down the stretch.
Alexis Groet picked up her seventh win of the season for the Skyhawks in the circle. Groet pitched six innings, allowing four earned runs while striking out four. Dreiling pitched the top of the seventh, retiring all three batters in order.
Offensively, Clark and Fuller led the Skyhawks with two hits each while five different players notched RBIs in the victory. Kelley led the team with three RBIs while Dreiling wasn’t far behind with two.
For the Golden Eagles, Alyssa Arden (9-5) was hit with the loss after giving up eight earned runs in 3.2 innings of work while Tyler Erwin appeared in relief with 2.1 strong scoreless innings. Meanwhile, Bryson paced the team in the batter’s box by going 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs while Love-Baker and Talley also drove in runs.
The University of Tennessee at Martin softball team used a pair of late rallies – including an error on the final play of the game which allowed the game-winning run to score from first base – to secure a series sweep of visiting Tennessee Tech in the opening Ohio Valley Conference series of the season.
The Skyhawks improved to 16-7 on the season and 3-0 in OVC play after picking up a 3-2 win in Game 1 of today’s doubleheader before posting a thrilling walk-off victory in the series finale by a final score of 4-3. The wins also improved UT Martin to 5-0 at Bettye Giles Field this season.
UT Martin tallied 15 hits on the day – led by the play of Kaci Fuller who tallied four hits while scoring one run. She was not the only Skyhawk to tally multiple base hits in the contest as Maddi Long, Paige Clark and Shyanne Sheffield also scratched out a pair of singles each. The team was limited to just one extra base hit but it was a big one as Katie Dreiling drilled a two-run home run in Game 1 for her fifth of the season.
In the pitcher’s circle, four different players contributed for the home team as Erin Gallagher and Alexis Groet earned the respective starts. Gallagher improved to 5-1 on the season after picking up a win in Game 1 with five innings of three-hit work while striking out four and allowing two earned runs. She was relieved by Dreiling who pitched two perfect innings to earn her first career save. Then in Game 2 of the doubleheader, Groet got the start and lasted 2.1 scoreless innings before being relieved by Dreiling who pitched 2.2 innings and allowed three earned runs. Seeley Layne became the fourth and final pitcher used, closing the door on the Golden Eagle offense by tossing two perfect innings while striking out two for her third win of the season.
Game 22: UT Martin 3, Tennessee Tech 2
The action quickly got underway in the first game of the doubleheader with Tennessee Tech jumping out with a lead in the top of the first inning. After a pair of quick outs, a walk was followed by three consecutive singles by Carmen Betts, Abby Buettner and Kaylan Cole to result in two early runs on the board for the Golden Eagles.
UT Martin wasted very little time responding as six pitches later, the game was tied once again. The bottom of the first began with Clark lacing a single through the left side before Dreiling drilled her second home run in as many days over the centerfield batter’s eye to tie the game at 2-2. The two-run home run moved Dreiling into the team lead with her fifth home run of the season.
After the early offense, both teams’ pitchers would settle down as Gallagher set Tech down in order over the next five innings. The game finally found its deciding run in the bottom of the fifth inning when Long walked and was replaced for pinch runner Anna Blanton. The runner would quickly be on the move as she used a heads-up play to advance from first to third on a sacrifice bunt before coming home the final 60 feet to score the eventual game-winning run on a RBI-groundout by Dreiling to give the Skyhawks a 3-2 advantage.
Game 23: UT Martin 4, Tennessee Tech 3
Unlike the first game of the day, Game 2 took a bit to see the scoring take off as neither team hung a crooked number on the scoreboard until the top of the fourth inning. Tennessee Tech struck first after Haeli Bryson led off the frame with a double to right field before advancing to third on a wild pitch. The slugger would only have to trot home the final few feet later in the inning as Buettner launched a two-run home run down the left field line to put the visitors up 2-0.
Tech struck again courtesy of the long ball in the top of the sixth inning when Bryson led off the inning with another big hit – this time with a solo home run to left center to push the team’s margin out to three runs.
After stranding seven runners on base earlier in the game, UT Martin had six final outs to make a late rally. The Skyhawks began that comeback attempt in the bottom of the sixth with three consecutive singles by Long, Fuller and Sheffield to load the bases with no outs. After back-to-back outs threatened the prime scoring opportunity like many times earlier in the game, senior Emily Gilstrap came through in the clutch by looping a single into left center to drive in a pair of runs and cut into the margin. Following another single by Clark to left field to load the bases for the second time in the inning, Game 1’s hero Dreiling drew a clutch walk to score the game’s tying run and make the score 3-3.
Following a 1-2-3 inning by Layne in the top of the seventh to retire the Golden Eagles, the Skyhawks got back to work in the bottom of the seventh to put the game in the win column. Long ripped a first-pitch single up the middle before chaos ensued as a bunt single by Fuller – compounded by an errant throw by the Tech defender – saw the ball go down in the right field line allowing Long to motor around the bases from first to home on the play to score the walk-off victory 4-3.
UT Martin will look to continue its momentum at home when playing host to Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Wednesday, March 23. Action from Bettye Giles Field is scheduled to get underway at 1 p.m.
Graphic courtesy of UT Martin Sports Information