By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Sports Information Coordinator
KENNESAW, Ga. – A dominating performance and a nail biter highlighted the Tennessee Tech softball team's 2015 season debut, with the Golden Eagles (1-1) earning a split in day one of the Kennesaw State University Kickoff Classic.
Tech wasted no time in the opener with Northern Kentucky, jumping out to a 6-0 lead after two innings en route to a 10-0 win in five innings over The Norse (0-1), before coming up on the short end of an epic battle with the defending MAC Tournament champion Ohio (1-2), falling in the final frame, 4-3.
The Golden Eagles capitalized on shaky defense in the opener, using six Northern Kentucky errors to hoist up a 10-spot in the shutout victory. In fact, The Norse's four defensive miscues in the first two innings played a pivotal role in pushing Tech out to a 6-0 advantage, with six different Golden Eagles touching up home, including junior Olivia Bennett who put together a stellar opener that saw the Mentone, Calif. native go a perfect 3-for-3 at the dish with a run scored and an RBI.
Bennett reached twice on a pair of singles in the first two frames, the second of which pushed Tech out to a 3-0 lead in the second inning after Bennett drove one up the middle that plated fellow junior Cortney Fry with two down. The knock was one of three in the five-run second for TTU, with junior transfer Sabrie Neeb and sophomore Alyssa Richards responsible for the other two.
Neeb's hit, which came right after the Bennett run-scoring single, put runners on first and second with two down, before both Neeb and Bennett scored one batter later on NKU's third error of the tilt on a ball hit by sophomore Kelly Kennedy. The key miscue pushed the Golden Eagles out to a 5-0 lead, before Richards capped off the five-run frame with an RBI single that plated Kennedy one batter later.
The six-run cushion was more than enough for junior Hannah Weaver (1-0), who collected her first win of the season with a complete-game shutout, scattering six hits and walking just one to move to 1-0 on the year.
On the opposite side of the equation, Norse senior Alex Caudill (0-1) was saddled with the loss after going the distance and giving up 10 runs, although only three of which were earned, for the West Chester, Ohio native's first loss of the season.
Tech added insurance with two more in the third on a Hannah Eldridge RBI double that scored junior Mekenzie Weems, before Eldridge would come across two batters later on a double-steal attempt that saw Cortney Fry get gunned down at second, but still gave the Golden Eagles an 8-0 edge.
TTU capped off its scoring in the bottom of the fourth, using a two-run Fry base hit to center that plated both Eldridge and sophomore Gabby Perez to extend the lead to 10-0.
The script reversed in the second game against the defending MAC Tournament champion Ohio, as it was the Bobcats who raced out to the early advantage with a three-run second inning behind a Casie Hutchinson solo home run and a two-run Slone Walker double.
Tech showed resiliency though to the early setback, coming back to tie the game with a run in the fourth and two more in the fifth. Hannah Eldridge got the comeback bid started with an RBI single in the fourth that scored Gabby Perez who pinch ran for Kelley Kennedy after Kennedy started the frame with a single through the left side. Eldridge would end the contest going 2-for-3, the only Golden Eagle to notch two hits in the game.
An inning later with TTU now trailing 3-1, freshman Callen Griffin singled for her first career hit with one down to bring the tying run to the plate in the form of Olivia Bennett. Bennett who had already recorded three hits in the opening game, continued her strong opening day as the righty swinging outfielder blasted a two-run round tripper over the left field fence to square up the ball game at 3-3.
Sophomore Danielle Liberatore (0-1) fed off Tech offensive heroics as the 5-foot-10 southpaw set the Bobcats down in order 1-2-3, the Peotone, Ill. native's third-straight inning without allowing a hit after her rough patch in the second.
Liberatore would go on to pitch a scoreless sixth to keep the game preserved at 3-3, wiggling around a leadoff Madison Claytor double, but ultimately could not remain unblemished in the seventh as Ohio walked off with the win on a Mikayla Cooper RBI double that scored junior Sloan Walker to give the Bobcats their first victory of the season.
Walker singled with one out, promptly stole second, moved to third on an infield single by junior Amanda Dalton, before coming around to end the game on the Cooper two-bagger. Walker and Dalton each went 2-for-4 in the contest, the only two Bobcats that produced multi-hit affairs.
Liberatore suffered the loss, going six and a third innings, yielding four runs on eight hits with two walks and four punch outs. Ohio junior Savannah Jo Dorsey (1-1) evened her record with a complete-game performance in which the Grove City, Ohio native gave up three runs on six hits, walking two, and whiffing nine Golden Eagles.
Tech will wrap up its two-day stay in Kennesaw with two more games on Sunday, squaring off with Dayton at 11:30 a.m. CT, before wrapping up the tourney with a matchup against the host Kennesaw State at 4:30 p.m.
