By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Sports Information Coordinator
CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Tennessee Tech softball team heads back to Cookeville having taken three out of four in the Charleston Southern Tournament, splitting with the host on Sunday to wrap up its weekend stay. TTU scored late in the opener with the Buccaneers (9-4) to seize the first game, 6-4, before CSU bounced back to notch a win in the second tilt, 8-5.
A barrage of late inning fireworks paced the Golden Eagles (6-7) in the opener, as Tech struck for three in the fifth, two in the sixth, and one in the seventh to capture the contest. In fact, after scoring four in the fifth of the second game, the Golden Eagles ended up scoring a combined 17 runs in the final three frames throughout the course of the weekend.
Trailing 1-0 behind a Stevi Johnson solo home run in the bottom of the second, the TTU offense ignited in the top of the fifth thanks to a power outage of its own. A Sabrie Neeb walk, an Angi Sakamoto sacrifice bunt, and a Madison Taylor RBI single tied up the game at 1-1, before Olivia Bennett clubbed a go-ahead two-run home run over the center-field wall to give the Golden Eagles a 3-1 edge.
Bennett continues to flex her offensive muscles in the early stages of the season, leading Tech with five round trippers and nine RBI over the first 13 games, after wrapping up Sunday's opener going 2-for-4 with two runs driven in.
An inning later, the Golden Eagles padded their lead with a two-spot, capitalizing on a promising start to the frame. Sophomore Kelly Kennedy began the inning with a single to center, before the Plainfield, Ill. native would be lifted for sophomore Gabby Perez as a pinch runner. Senior Hannah Eldridge would then reach on a CSU error to put runners on first and second, which was followed by a Christian Gibbs groundout that moved Perez to third and Eldridge to second.
A Sabrie Neeb run-scoring sacrifice bunt pushed Perez around with the first run of the inning, before a two-out RBI single to left off the bat of Angi Sakamoto gave the Golden Eagles a 5-1 cushion heading into the bottom of the sixth.
The lead appeared to be in good hands with the way sophomore Danielle Liberatore (3-4) had been pitching as the 5-foot-10 southpaw had given up just one hit following the Stevi Johnson second-inning long ball, a one-out fifth inning bunt single by sophomore Amanda Matsumoto. Liberatore fell into rare trouble though, as the Buccaneers loaded the bases with one out on a Cheyenne Gandara walk, a Stevi Johnson single to center, and a Brooke Lein base on balls.
With the bases juiced, pinch-hitter Stephanie Baro gave Charleston Southern some late life with a sacrifice fly that brought around Gandara to cut the deficit to 5-2, before a Natalie Yonan RBI single down the right field line made the count 5-3, chasing Liberaotre in the process.
CSU added a final run in the frame on consecutive walks by Amanda Matsumoto and sophomore Brook Richardson, with Richardson's free pass brining around Brooke Lein to chop the Tech lead to 5-4. TTU head coach Bonnie Bynum made her second pitching change of the inning, lifting freshman Taylor Waldrop in favor of junior Hannah Weaver, who proceeded to strike out senior Marci Christian to end further damage.
With the Golden Eagles leading 5-4 heading into the top of the seventh, sophomore Alyssa Richards smacked her second home run of the season to give Tech a 6-4 advantage, before Weaver pitched a scoreless bottom of the seventh to notch her first collegiate save, pushing the Golden Eagles to their fourth-straight win as well.
Danielle Liberatore won her second straight after tossing five and two-thirds of four-run ball, yielding five hits, and striking out eight in the process to move her record to 3-4. Cheyenne Gandara suffered the loss, going the distance and giving up six runs (four earned) on eight hits.
Offensively, Tech's top of the order came up big as the first four hitters Angi Sakamoto, Madison Taylor, Olivia Bennett, and Alyssa Richards combined to go 6-for-13 with two home runs, five RBI, and three runs scored.
Charleston Southern got hot with the bats in the second game, scoring in five of the six innings, including three in the bottom of the sixth to break a 5-5 deadlock to move ahead 8-5.
The Bucs plated one in the second, one in the third, and two more in the fourth to take a 4-1 lead after Tech scored on a Hannah Eldridge RBI single in the top of the third. The Golden Eagles would go on to explode for four in the top of the fifth to take a 5-4 edge, using a Callen Griffin RBI double, a second Hannah Eldridge run-scoring single, and a two-run Bayli Cruse home run, the first of the freshman's collegiate career.
Griffin's two-bagger was the second of the game for the freshman infielder, joining Eldridge as the two Tech players with multi-hit affairs.
CSU responded to the club's first deficit of the game, tying things up in the bottom of the fifth on a Stephanie Baro single and a Tech error that allowed sophomore Brittany McPherson to score from second.
The Buccaneers took the lead for good in the last of the sixth, using a Marci Christian two-out three-run home run to propel them to the win. Christian's long ball was the Arvonia, Va. native's second of the contest after the senior broke a 1-1 tie in the third inning with a solo shot.
Senior Erica Tuck (0-1) registered her first loss of the year after giving up the gopher ball to Christian in the sixth. The 5-foot-9 righty came on for Tech starter Hannah Weaver in the fourth, and ended up lasting two and a third, surrendering four runs (three earned) on four hits.
Charleston Southern senior Jennifer Giles (3-1) notched the win, despite allowing five runs, eight hits, and six walks in the contest. Game one loser Cheyenne Gandara came on to pitch a scoreless seventh to earn her first save of the season.
The Golden Eagles continue a string of four-straight tournaments to begin the 2015 campaign, taking aim in the Frost Classic hosted by Chattanooga, Feb, 27-Mar. 1. Tech will clash with No. 6 Kentucky and Ohio on Friday, South Dakota State and Alabama A&M on Saturday, and Purdue on Sunday.
