By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Sports Information Coordinator
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Tech softball team will put the finishing touches on the regular season over the weekend, traveling to Morehead State for a three-game series to close out the 54-game campaign. The two squads will hit the diamond for a Saturday doubleheader beginning at 12 p.m. CT, before closing out the set with a Sunday single-game, also starting at noon.
The Golden Eagles (26-25, 13-10) enter the final weekend of the regular season in fifth place in the Ohio Valley Conference, with the top eight teams slated to qualify for the conference tournament, hosted by the No. 1 seed, May 6-9.
Tech will look to get back to its winning ways that saw the club start the month of April with a 7-2 OVC record, before suffering a recent four-game slide with a pair of losses to both Murray State and Eastern Kentucky.
The Golden Eagles still lead the conference with 50 home runs, aided in large part by junior Olivia Bennett's team-best 14 round trippers, a mark that puts the 5-foot-4 outfielder in third place in the OVC. Her 44 RBI have also set the Tech bar, and are just two away from Jacksonville State's Sara Borders for the most in the conference.
Sophomore Alyssa Richards has paced the Golden Eagles with a .331 batting average, one of five Tech players to be hitting at least .300, along with senior Hannah Eldridge (.325), junior Sabrie Neeb (.311), senior Angi Sakamoto (.309), and freshman Bayli Cruse (.300). Sakamoto is also the TTU leader with 14 doubles, 55 hits, and nine stolen bases, while Neeb has been the hottest Golden Eagle of late, hitting an impressive .413 (19-46) in the last 15 games.
From inside the circle, sophomore Danielle Liberatore (14-10) begins the discussion with a Tech-best 14 wins, 2.21 ERA, and 204 strikeouts in 168 innings on the rubber. The 5-foot-10 southpaw is one of just two pitchers in the conference with at least 200 punch outs, joining SIUE's Haley Chambers, who sports an OVC high 242.
Morehead State (21-20, 10-9) comes into the regular season finale on a roll, having captured eight of the last 10 games, highlighted by strong pitching that includes senior Tanna Seuferer (9-5). The 5-foot-11 right-hander just took home OVC Pitcher of the Week honors after giving up just one earned run in 11 innings of work against Northern Kentucky and Tennessee State.
Freshman Mackenzie Grossmann (12-8) is the club's leader with 12 wins, a 2.85 ERA, and 85 strikeouts in 137 1/3 innings on the slab.
From an offensive perspective, sophomore Kayla McGuffey leads the Eagle charge with a .362 batting average, while the Mooresville, N.C. native is also a perfect 13-for-13 in the stolen base department, one of two Morehead State players to have swiped at least 10 bags (freshman Hannah Murphy).
TTU leads the all-time series, 61-32, riding a four-game win streak into Morehead.
