By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Sports Information Coordinator
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – It was a power outage Saturday afternoon at Tech Softball Field in the Tennessee Tech softball team's first home conference action of the season. Thanks to five Golden Eagle home runs and a lights out showing by sophomore Danielle Liberatore, Tech (16-12, 3-2) earned a split in its twin bill with OVC foe Southeast Missouri (5-12, 2-2).
Liberatore (9-5) twirled a gem in the opener, blanking the Redhawks for her third-straight complete game shutout in conference play. The 5-foot-10 southpaw scattered five hits (four of them singles), walked two, and struck out seven to notch her sixth consecutive victory. Liberatore has yet to allow a run in her three OVC starts, surrendering just 12 hits (11 singles), and whiffing 22 in 18 innings from inside the circle.
SEMO sophomore Keaira Schilling (2-6) nearly matched Liberatore pitch for pitch, but a slew of mistakes proved costly for the Kirksville, Mo. native, who was hit with the loss despite pitching only the second Redhawk complete-game of the season. One of her mistakes came off the bat of senior Angi Sakamoto, who sent one over the right center wall in the bottom of the third to break a scoreless tie.
The home run was the fourth this season for the lefty-swinging outfielder, bringing her into a three-way tie with sophomore Alyssa Richards and senior Hannah Eldridge for second most on the team.
The Golden Eagles would pad their lead in the bottom of the sixth, using a pair of booming hits to give Tech some breathing room in the highly contested pitcher's duel. Junior Madison Taylor led off the frame with a rocket that one hopped up against the wall for a leadoff double, before junior Olivia Bennett crushed a two-out, two-run home run three batters later to push the TTU edge to 3-0.
The round tripper was just the beginning for Bennett, as the Mentone, Calif. native would club two more long balls in the second game, giving her the most in the OVC with 10.
The two home runs helped bring the Golden Eagles back into the thick of things after the first four runs of the contest went SEMO's way. The Redhawks plated two in the second behind a two-run single by senior Meaghan Touchette that caromed off the glove of Tech starting pitcher Hannah Weaver and into left field.
Southeast added two more in the top of the fourth, as the dangerous Kayla Fortner did the damage with a two-run, two out double that plated freshman Claire Werning and sophomore Nicole Deering to extend the Redhawk margin to 4-0. Tech did avoid further trouble on the two-bagger as Angi Sakamoto quickly corralled in the ball and whipped it to sophomore Gabby Perez, who then whirled around and gunned down senior Lindsey Patterson at the plate for the final out of the inning.
The impressive display of defense gave Tech some momentum, with Olivia Bennett smacking the first of her two round trippers in the bottom of the inning, a two-run shot well over the left-center wall to cut the deficit to 4-2.
An inning later Madison Taylor touched them all, roping one over the right field fence to bring TTU within a run at 4-3.
Kayla Fornter quickly swung the momentum back to SEMO's side in the top of the sixth, driving in two more with a two-out single to right that brought around Lindsey Patterson and senior Alexis Anderson to give the Redhawks a 6-3 lead.
Fortner ended the second game an impressive 4-for-4 with a double and three RBI.
Now down 6-3 going into the bottom of the sixth, Bennett brought the Golden Eagles within two behind a leadoff home run for the 5-foot-4 outfielder's second round tripper of the game. The long ball chased Southeast starting pitcher Madeline Krumrey (3-3), who evened up her record with the freshman's third win of the season.
On came game one starter, Keaira Schilling, who proceeded to set the next three Golden Eagles down to send the game into the seventh with SEMO leading 6-4.
Tech made things interesting in the bottom of the seventh after a one out double to left by Gabby Perez, but Schilling would bounce back to get the next two Golden Eagles for her first save of the season, sending the Redhawks to the finish line and break the club's four-game losing streak.
Junior Hannah Weaver was saddled with the loss, tossing four and two-thirds and allowing four runs on seven hits. Freshman Taylor Waldrop registered her second consecutive shutout effort in relief, keeping the Redhawks at bay with an inning and two-thirds scoreless.
The Canon, Ga. native wiggled out of a tight jam in the sixth inning after SEMO loaded the bases with one down, getting Meaghan Touchette to line out on a nifty play that saw Hannah Eldridge make the catch and then quickly tag out Riley Hayes off of first for an inning-ending double play.
It seemed only fitting that the Golden Eagles clubbed five home runs in the twin bill, paying homage to three of the greatest power hitters in Tech histroy that were honored in between games. Kacy Bennett (2002-05), Stephanie Fischer (2005-08), and Beth Boden (2005-08) were all added to the Wall of Honor just behind the center field fence, giving recognition to the trio's outstanding careers and flashing back to an era of historic proportions in Tech softball.
Boden is the program's all-time leader with 51 home runs, while Fischer's 45 during her career put her in second on the all-time list. At the time of her graduation, Bennett's 28 career home runs and 136 career RBI were good enough for second on the all-time Tech list.
The Golden Eagles will be right back at it on Sunday, welcoming in UT Martin for a doubleheader that begins at 12 p.m. CT. Tech took two out of three last year from the Skyhawks, including knocking them out of the OVC Tournament with a 5-3 victory.
Pictured above from left: Wall of Honor inductees Stephanie Fischer, Beth Boden, and Kacy Bennett. Head softball coach Bonnie Bynum.
Director of Athletics Mark Wilson.
Pictured above from left: Wall of Honor inductees Stephanie Fischer and Beth Boden.
Pictured Above: Wall of Honor inductee Kacy Bennett.
