By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Sports Information Coordinator
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Unbelievable doesn't even come close to describing it. For all intents and purposes the game was over. The Tennessee Tech softball team trailed 7-0 going into the top of the seventh inning in Wednesday's opener of a non-conference doubleheader at Samford.
Conventional thinking for the team cast in purple in gold would have been to chalk it up as a loss, and look to salvage a split at the hands of a Samford club that entered the twin bill an impressive 8-1 at home. Then again let's be real…there was nothing conventional about this.
A comeback for the ages doesn't even do it justice, but when the dust finally settled in the top of the seventh inning, eight Golden Eagles had dented home plate and Tennessee Tech had pulled off one its greatest comebacks in school history. Tech somehow, someway, captured the day's opening contest 8-7.
And for good measure…they won the second game as well.
Trailing by a touchdown entering the final frame, the Golden Eagles (15-11, 2-1) went to work. Sophomore Alyssa Richards began the seventh with a walk, which was promptly followed by a Cortney Fry single that ended up advancing pinch-runner Christian Gibbs to third, while Fry took second on the throw.
Now with a little bit of momentum in the holster, sophomore Kelly Kennedy kept the line moving thanks to an RBI single to center, scoring Gibbs and moving Fry to third to make it a 7-1 affair. Freshman Rachel Karlan followed the Kennedy knock with one of her own, doubling down the left field line to bring home Fry with the second run of the inning, and keep the rally going with runners on second and third with still no one out.
Samford (18-10) sophomore Rebecca Leonard would induce sophomore Gabby Perez on a pop up for the first out of the inning, but that didn't deter the Golden Eagles as junior Madison Taylor coaxed a walk to load up the bases for senior Angi Sakamoto.
The Waipahu, Hawaii native did not disappoint, roping a single to right center that allowed Kennedy to score to cut the count to 7-3, and bring the tying run to the plate in the form of senior Hannah Eldridge.
Karlan stood firmly on third. Taylor sat atop the bag at second. Sakamoto was stationed at first. Bases chalk full of Golden Eagles for the dangerous Eldridge, who came into the tilt second on the club with a .357 batting average.
After a strike from Leonard made the count 0-1, Eldridge came through.
In grand fashion.
The senior second baseman soared one over the center field wall, tying the game with the sport's most exciting play, a grand slam. The dramatic round tripper gives Eldridge four home runs on the season, already doubling up the Fayetteville, Tenn. native's two from a year ago.
With the score now deadlocked at 7-7, junior Olivia Bennett helped ensure that the heroic comeback wouldn't be all for not, as the 5-foot-4 outfielder smacked a single to center off of new Samford arm Mollie Hanson (9-5) to put the go-ahead and potential winning run at first. Alyssa Richards, who had already reached on a walk to begin the inning, followed Bennett's single with a double down the right field line that was able to bring Bennett all the way around from first to push Tech to an 8-7 lead.
When it was all said and done, the Golden Eagles sent 12 to the plate in the top of the seventh, scoring eight runs on seven hits.
There was still work to be done though, and it would be senior Erica Tuck's job to do it. The 5-foot-9 hurler entered the contest back in the bottom of the fifth, and after giving up a two-run home run to the first batter she faced, Tuck (1-1) had settled down rather nicely.
The Maryville, Tenn. native struck out junior Caroline Wilder to end the fifth, and then navigated through a scoreless sixth.
Trouble brewed to begin the seventh though after Tuck walked sophomore Abby Sweeney, who then advanced to second on a wild pitch with no one down in the inning. A precarious spot with the tying run in scoring position, but Tuck was up to the tumultuous task, setting down the next three Bulldogs in order to preserve a win that will stand firmly in Golden Eagle lore.
The victory was the first of the season for Tuck, while Mollie Hanson was hit with the loss despite tossing five shutout innings as a starter, before coming back into the game with one out in the seventh and surrendering the go-ahead run.
The Houdini-esque comeback victory has been a trend for this year's Tech bunch, with Wednesday's game one thriller marking the third time already this season that the Golden Eagles have won a game in which they were trailing after six innings. Down 3-0 heading into the top of the seventh on Feb. 21 against North Carolina A&T, Tech plated six in the frame to take a 6-3 win, and on Mar. 7 the Golden Eagles scored three times in the seventh to seize a 3-2 victory at ETSU.
The momentum from Wednesday's first game carried right into the day's second tilt, and Angi Sakamoto wasted no time in proving that. The lefty-swinging outfielder led off the contest with a solo home run, one of three clubbed in the ball game for the Golden Eagles as part of a Tech hit brigade that produced a season-high tying 14 hits, seven of which were of the extra base variety.
One of the three TTU bombs came courtesy from Kelly Kennedy, a two-run shot that broke a 2-2 third inning tie after Samford plated two in the bottom of the first on a two-run Shelby Maze single, before Tech came back to knot things up on a bases loaded walk by Cortney Fry in the top of the second. The Kennedy round tripper was the first in the Golden Eagle career for the Plainfield, Ill. native.
TTU would go on to pad its lead with a three-spot in the top of the fifth thanks to an RBI double off the bat of Madison Taylor, and a two-run two-bagger from freshman Callen Griffin to extend the Tech margin to 7-2.
The Bulldogs came right back in the bottom of the frame with a three-spot of their own, using an Abby Sweeney RBI single and a Callie Brister two-run knock to cut the deficit to 7-5.
The Golden Eagles weren't fazed by Samford's comeback bid, with Tech essentially putting the game on ice with three more runs in the top of the seventh. Madison Taylor capped off a stellar game with a two-run dinger to center field for the Mt. Juliet, Tenn. native's second extra-base hit of the contest, before Hannah Eldridge officially wrapped up the day's scoring with an RBI double to left center.
Eldridge, Taylor, Richards, Kennedy, and freshman Bayli Cruse all had multi-hit affairs in the second game, with Cruse setting the bar with a 3-for-4 showing.
Junior Hannah Weaver (6-4) collected the win, allowing five runs (two earned) in four and two-thirds innings, while freshman Taylor Waldrop looked sharp in her relief outing with two and a third scoreless frames. Bulldog sophomore Grey Adams (6-2) was tagged with her second loss of the season after giving up four runs in three innings of work.
The Golden Eagles will get back to their Ohio Valley Conference schedule over the weekend, returning home for a pair of doubleheaders. On Saturday Tech will clash with Southeast Missouri for a twin bill beginning at 12 p.m. CT, before locking up with UT Martin for a Sunday double dip starting at 12 p.m.