By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Sports Information Coordinator
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – It was a performance the likes of which haven't been seen in nearly a decade. She was simply unhittable. It was a thing of beauty. It was history.
When it was all said and done, 16 Skyhawks took the woeful walk from dish to dugout, and in the end, all 16 had one thing in common. Danielle Liberatore had struck them out.
Coming into Sunday's doubleheader against UT Martin, there have been 1,579 Tennessee Tech softball games. Not one of them had seen a Golden Eagle pitcher strike out more than 15 in a game. That is no longer the case.
The 5-foot-10 southpaw marched her way right through the record books with a history-making performance that saw Liberatore (10-5) whiff 16 to lead Tennessee Tech to a 2-1 victory in the opener. UTM would bounce back to capture the day's second contest with an 8-0 win, but the story at Tech Softball Field was the dominance of Danielle.
The Peotone, Ill. native won her seventh straight decision behind a complete-game showing that featured only two Skyhawk hits, a pair of free passes, and a record-setting 16 strikeouts. Ironically enough, the record's previous owner had as good as seat as any for the memorable afternoon, with current Tech head coach Bonnie Bynum holding the previous mark after striking out 15 Jacksonville State Gamecocks back in 2006.
Make no mistake about it, as impressive as Liberatore was on Sunday, the game itself was just as good with no shortage on drama, emotion, and at times anxiety.
Heading into the bottom of the fourth, the game had just one hit, a solo home run off the bat of UTM freshman Alecia Hansen to lead off the top of the second. In the last of the fourth though, the Golden Eagles reversed the trend.
Skyhawk senior Kenzi Tate (2-3) registered the first out of the inning, the ninth consecutive Golden Eagle that the 5-foot-7 right hander set down, but fell into trouble thanks to an Olivia Bennett single through the left side. Tech's first hit of the game was followed by its most important, as sophomore catcher Alyssa Richards lined a laser over the center field fence and just like that the Golden Eagles had themselves a 2-1 lead.
Now pitching with a lead for the first time, Liberatore struck out the side in the top of the fifth to continue a streak that saw the sophomore hurler retire 12 straight Skyhawks following the Hansen round tripper. The three-strikeout inning for Liberatore was also one of three such frames recorded throughout the contest by the lefthander.
In the top of the sixth Liberatore's impressive streak finally came to a close, behind a Renate Meckl leadoff double to put the tying run in scoring position with no one out. Now with the game's fate in jeopardy, Liberatore buckled down to strikeout the next two UT Martin hitters, whiffing pinch-hitter Lindsey Feigl and the ever-dangerous Skyhawk leadoff hitter Carly Gonzales, who entered the twin bill as one of only four players in the Ohio Valley Conference with at least a .400 batting average.
After the pair of punch outs, Liberatore's defense came to the sophomore's aid thanks to an outstanding play by Alyssa Richards. Fittingly enough, Liberatore's battery mate had already provided the game's biggest hit with her fourth-inning go-ahead home run, but now it was time for Richards to come up with the tilt's most critical defensive play.
UT Martin skipper and TTU alumnus Donley Canary elected to bring in a pinch runner for Renate Meckl, calling on sophomore Bella Zizzi in an attempt to tie up the tilt. With two down and senior Samantha McClure at the plate, Zizzi broke for third on a 2-2 pitch, but was gunned down by Richards for the final out of the inning.
In the top of the seventh, the dramatics reached its climax.
Liberatore began the inning with a strikeout on McClure, but proceeded to walk her opposing counterpart from inside the circle, Kenzi Tate, to put the tying run on with one out. Appropriately enough, Alicia Hansen, who had already taken Liberatore deep back in the second inning for UT Martin's lone run, dug in to the right side of the dish.
Not only did Hansen represent the go-ahead run, but the Miamisburg, Ohio native also represented a potential piece of history as Liberatore had already tied Bonnie Bynum's single-game record of 15 strikeouts after fanning McClure to begin the frame.
Locked, loaded, and ready to go, Liberatore breezed one right past the mighty hack of Hansen to stamp her place in Tech lore with magic number 16, and also move the game within an out from its conclusion. The finish line was in sight for Liberatore, but it wasn't going to come easy for the southpaw, and senior Lauren Smith proved that.
To make matters more intriguing, UT Martin called on freshman speedster Chelsey Smith to pinch run at first. The Madison, Tenn. native came into the day fifth in the OVC with a perfect 9-for-9 stolen base clip, despite not starting a game all year long and having just two-at bats in the season.
If the notion of whether or not to send Chelsea Smith entered the Skyhawk thinking, head coach Donley Canary had an awfully long time to ponder it. An eternity of an at-bat ensued as Smith fouled off pitch after pitch…after pitch…after pitch.
14 to be exact during the marathon matchup, with a collective sigh that grew louder and louder amongst the tense-driven fans as the battle progressed.
Ultimately, Lauren Smith seized the struggle as the O'Fallon, Ill. native worked a walk that put runners on first and second, keeping the UT Martin heartbeat alive for at least another hitter. Up stood senior Kelsey Dixon, and as if the contest needed any more chaos, a pinch more was added anyway with a wild pitch that advanced the Skyhawk runners to second and third.
With the go-ahead and possibly winning run now in scoring position, Liberatore wasn't fazed, getting Dixon on a soft foul pop up to third that was gloved by freshman Callen Griffen to end the historic twin bill opener.
When the dust finally settled, the stat line for Liberatore read seven innings, one run, two hits, two walks, 16 strikeouts. The hard-throwing sophomore has now whiffed an eye-popping 126 in 99 innings of work on the season, a mark that puts her second in the OVC behind SIU Edwardsville's Haley Chambers.
Despite a strong effort from Kenzi Tate, the 5-foot-7 right hander was hit with a tough luck loss. Tate went the distance and gave up just two hits in six innings on the slab.
There was no carry over effect for UT Martin in the second game, as the Skyhawks came out of the gates scorching with a three-run top half of the first. Kelsey Dixon accounted for the first UTM run with a bases loaded walk, before an RBI single by freshman Jodie Duncan, and heads up base running that allowed Carly Gonzales score all the way from second on the Duncan knock, padded the Skyhawk edge to 3-0.
UT Martin mirrored their trio of first inning runs with three more in the third, using an RBI bunt single off the bat of freshman Savannah Dodson, a Chelsea Smith steal of home, and a run-scoring double to center by Samantha McClure to jump out to a 6-0 lead.
The Skyhawks capped their scoring with two more runs in the top of the sixth behind three-straight doubles by Carly Gonzales, Kenzi Tate, and Aleica Hansen to give UTM an 8-0 advantage.
Gonzales' two-bagger was the second hit of the game for the Anaheim, Calif. native, the only player on either side to notch a multi-hit affair.
Sophomore Elizabeth Wiegand (6-5) recorded the win after the 5-foot-10 righty went the distance, blanking the Golden Eagles and yielding just two hits to bump her record above .500. Freshman Taylor Waldrop (0-2) was saddled with the loss after lasting two and a third innings and allowing six runs (three earned) in her first collegiate start.
Sunday's split pushes the Golden Eagles to a 17-13 overall record and a 4-3 conference mark. UT Martin moves to 13-13 and 2-4 in the OVC.
Tech will now turn its attention out of the OVC as the Golden Eagles will travel to Knoxville on Wednesday to lock up with No. 14 Tennessee. First pitch is slated for 5 p.m. CT.
