By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Scoring runs wasn't the problem for the Tennessee Tech softball team on Tuesday. Finding ways to keep Samford from scoring them was as the homestanding Bulldogs rallied from a 4-0 deficit to take a 12-8 victory in game one, then run-ruled the Golden Eagles 11-3 in the second contest.
Tech collected eight runs on 10 hits in the opener, leaving six on, then had three runs on five hits in the nightcap, stranding five.
Alyssa Arden took her third loss of the season, allowing seven runs – five earned – on six hits in the opener as she walked four and struck out two. Callie Piper came on in relief and the Bulldogs didn't relent, adding five earned runs on four hits and a walk.
Things didn't fare better in the second game. Piper, in her first start, was tagged for six runs – two earned – on six hits as she walked one and struck out two. Haeli Bryson pitched the final inning and two-thirds before the run-rule was enacted, allowing five earned runs on three hits with four walks and one strikeout.
The opening game featured six home runs – two for the Golden Eagles, including a grand slam for Sydney Love-Baker in the second inning. Jessie Lowery also had a three-run bomb in the sixth inning. The round-trippers were Lowery's first of the season, Love-Baker's seventh.
Kathryn Jackson hit two dingers, while Madison Couch and Merritt Cahoon also went yard. Jackson was 2-for-3 with three RBI, while Couch, Cahoon and Whitney Hinton each drove in two.
McKenna Gillespie picked up her third win of the year, allowing eight runs on nine hits, walking three and striking out two in five innings of work before Lacey Spear closed the door on the Golden Eagles, yielding one hit in the final two frames.
Bryson helped out her cause in the second game, driving in all three Tech runs with one swing of the bat with a three-run home run in the fourth inning, the first homer in her career.
Jackson and Cahoon also hit homers in the second contest as Cahoon hit a grand slam and Jackson hit a solo shot.
Annalyn Yantis earned her first win of the season, allowing three runs on five hits as she struck out two.
The Golden Eagles (10-11) return to action on Friday as they travel to Richmond, Ky., to open Ohio Valley Conference play with a doubleheader at Eastern Kentucky. First pitch is slated for 3 p.m.