By Alex Boggis, UT Martin Assistant Sports Information Director
MARTIN, Tenn. – The University of Tennessee at Martin softball team put on a show for the home faithful in its first game at Bettye Giles Field this season by blasting five home runs to power past non-conference foe Rhodes College by a final score of 12-1 in five innings.
The Skyhawks (6-8) posted a home run in every offensive innings on Tuesday afternoon, while boasting five round-trippers in total to surge to a home-opening victory. In total, UT Martin strung together 14 hits on the afternoon while allowing just one run.
Eight players recorded base hits for the Skyhawks while veterans Kaci Fuller and Kallie Pickens were perfect in the batter’s box by going 3-for-3 with two runs scored, a home run and two RBIs each. Joining the home run parade was the trio of Kiersten Nixon, Jordyn Hustey and Kaitlyn Kelley while Annie Gutierrez had a multi-RBI game with a two-run single in the fourth inning.
While the hitting was elite, the pitching was highly effective as well. Brooklynn Linneman (2-2) picked up her second win of the season after sticking to her pregame pitch count and tossing two perfect innings to start the contest. Junior Emily Brown came in to pitch the third inning and escaped some early trouble after stranding a pair of Lynx on base. Rounding out the pitching effort was Hustey who made her pitching debut with two scoreless innings of work.
UT Martin jumped out to an early lead with three runs in the bottom of the first inning. After Fuller led off the game with a single to left field and stole second, Pickens brought the speedster in to score by blasting a two-run home run to left field – marking the second of her campaign. Just three pitches later, Nixon went back-to-back with a solo shot to right center to take a 3-0 advantage.
The Skyhawks added two more runs in the second inning after Anna Hazlewood worked a walk to reach base and later came home to score on a two-run home run to left center by Fuller to push the home team’s lead out to five runs.
The Lynx scored their lone run of the contest in the third inning. The visitors saw their first three batters reach base via a walk sandwiched between two singles to load the bases with no outs. While Brown faced some trouble, she worked herself out of a sticky situation with a run-scoring groundout followed by two more consecutive outs to strand two runners on base.
The home team got the run back in the bottom half of the inning when Kelley turned on a 1-1 pitch and launched it over the left field wall to record her 28th career home run. The home run moved her out of a three-way tie for fourth place in program history and into sole possession of fourth.
After making her pitching debut in the top of the fourth inning, Hustey had herself a day by recording her first collegiate hit with a two-run home run to left center to score Pickens on the play and give the Skyhawks a seven-run advantage. The Skyhawks weren’t done in the fourth inning as the squad later loaded the bases before Gutierrez dumped a single into left field to add two RBIs while pinch hitter Kennedy Brown and Anna Blanton also notched RBIs to give the home team enough breathing room for the run-rule victory.
UT Martin will return to action this weekend when opening Ohio Valley Conference play when hosting Eastern Illinois for a three-game series. The schedule has been adjusted to begin on Friday, March 10 before completing on Saturday, March 11. Times are still being determined.
Graphic courtesy of UT Martin Sports Information