By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – For the longest team, it looked like both the Tennessee Tech and Austin Peay softball teams were going to battle infinitely on.
As time wore on, both teams kept battling – Tech taking an early 5-0 lead, then the Governors storming back to tie the game in the seventh inning, forcing extra innings.
But it was in the 10th when the Golden Eagles were able to prevail, taking a 6-5 victory in the contest, one that lasted nearly four hours.
However, Austin Peay was able to preserve a share of the doubleheader split, taking the second contest 1-0 on Saturday.
It was a marathon effort for Tech starter Danielle Liberatore, who pitched the first six full frames before Kayla Hughes came on in relief in the seventh.
The Govs, however, had other plans, pulling together a four-run frame and tying the game, which sent Tech head coach Bonnie Bynum Graham back to the circle to put Liberatore back in after a breather.
Liberatore finished the game officially working 10 full frames, allowing three runs on nine hits as she walked six and striking out 14. She threw 220 total pitches in the game, 145 for strikes.
But Tech was able to chase off APSU starter Kelsey Gross after the first three batters as Aalia Bivens and Raegan Sparks led off with back-to-back singles to left and a walk to Gabby LaSala. Gross yielded way to Christiana Gable, who struck out Bayli Cruse, but Alyssa Richards came through with the grand slam to make it a 4-0 contest after the first frame.
The Govs tried to challenge in the second as Rikki Arkansas tried to score on an Emily Moore single up the middle, but Callen Griffin showed a cannon as she blasted the ball back to Richards at catcher to throw Arkansas out at the plate.
The Golden Eagles added another run in the third inning as LaSala scored on a Cruse groundout to second.
With the game knotted at five in the bottom of the 10th, Richards led off with a walk, then Hallie Davis singled up the middle. Kelly Kennedy drew a walk to load the bases, then Aalia Bivens grounded a ball to the second baseman, who couldn't come up cleanly with the ball, allowing the game-winning run to score on the error.
Richards ended the game 3-for-3, while Sparks was 2-for-5 to lead the Golden Eagles (10-21, 3-3 OVC).
Gable (2-for-4) and Moore (3-for-6) led the Govs (13-19, 2-4 OVC).
In game two, it was a pitchers' duel between Tech's Leigh Ellen Thomas and Peay's Autumn Hanners as neither team scored until APSU scored the game's lone run in the sixth inning.
Thomas worked all seven innings, allowing one run on four hits as she walked one and struck out six, while Hanners kept Tech scoreless on six hits, walking two and striking out four.
The lone run came as Kacy Acree hit a solo home run in the sixth, her second hit in three trips to the plate.
Griffin and Gabby Perez both went 2-for-3 to lead the Golden Eagles.
Tech returns to action next Saturday as the Golden Eagles hit the road to Nashville as the Golden Eagles travel to Tennessee State on Saturday and Belmont on Sunday.
Photo by Jim Dillon
