By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Sports Information Coordinator
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – The mantra for the Tennessee Tech softball team this year has been plain and simple. Never. Say. Die. This group's resiliency has led them to 13 fifth-inning or later comebacks. It has led them to six seventh-inning comebacks, and it has led them to seven wins in their last at bat.
It has now led them to within one game of the 2015 Ohio Valley Conference Tournament title. It has led them to within a game of the 2015 NCAA Tournament.
"I mean we've had some comebacks this season, but I definitely think that given the circumstances tonight was the absolute biggest and best," TTU head coach Bonnie Bynum claimed, moments after her squad pulled off a comeback to propel them to the OVC Tournament Championship game as the only undefeated team left in the field.
The No. 4 Golden Eagles (31-26) erased a four-run deficit over No. 3 Murray State (38-18), scoring two in the second and four in the fifth to capture a 6-4 victory in the winner's bracket final of the OVC Tournament. Tech heads to the championship for the first time since 2012, starting 3-0 in the tourney for the first time since 2006.
"We all just knew," senior outfielder Angi Sakamoto said on the team's mindset after falling down 4-0 early on. "We knew that no matter what the deficit was, we would find a way to come back. This team has so much fight and just so much heart."
The Golden Eagles will await either No. 1 SIUE, No. 2 Jacksonville State, or No. 3 Murray State, who will play earlier on Saturday to decide who gets to tangle with Tech for the title at 3 p.m. CT. As the only undefeated team, one of those three clubs would need to beat TTU twice to seize the tourney title.
Tech shrugged off a shaky start that saw Murray State kick off the contest with a four-run bottom of the first that featured a pair of Racer home runs to help jump ahead 4-0. A Shelby Miller sacrifice fly christened the scoring, before sophomores Maggie Glass and Jocelynn Rodgers cracked back-to-back jacks to extend the Racer margin to 4-0.
However, the Golden Eagles showed resiliency to the early setback, slicing the deficit in half in the top of the second inning. Tech put the first two runners on with a Kelly Kennedy walk and a Madison Taylor single, using the bottom of the order to set the table for the two-run frame. After MSU registered the first out of the inning, senior Angi Sakamoto stroked a single to left to load up the bases for the second consecutive inning.
The Racers narrowly escaped the precarious position after inducing the next TTU hitter on a pop up to short, but a key Murray State error on a ball hit by senior Hannah Eldridge changed the complexion of the tilt's early stages. Eldridge flipped a shallow pop that was unable to be gloved by the Racer centerfielder, allowing both Taylor and junior Cortney Fry to score with Tech's first two runs.
Sophomore Danielle Liberatore (18-11) kept the game right where it was, allowing the Golden Eagles a chance to comeback. After the shaky beginning that saw the 5-foot-10 southpaw surrender four first inning runs, Liberatore bounced back to throw up three consecutive scoreless frames, wiggling out of a pair of jams that had the entire ball park on pins and needles.
On two separate occasions, the Peotone, Ill. native struck out the OVC Player of the Year in sophomore Jessica Twaddle with at least two runners in scoring position. In the bottom of the second with runners on at second and third, Liberatore whiffed the Franklin, Tenn. native to put a ribbon on the frame, before doing the same with the bases juiced in the bottom of the fourth.
"I knew I just had to find a way to keep us in it," Liberatore said on her ability to rebound after the ominous beginning. "After that first inning, I think we all just got angry and pumped up. We weren't really thinking about anything except for scoring runs and finding a way to comeback."
Liberatore's Houdini-esque escape ignited the Tech bats in the ensuing inning. Junior Olivia Bennett led off the top of the fifth with a solo home run to cut the margin to 4-3, the 5-foot-4 outfielder's team-leading 15th of the season.
"Olivia has been awesome this year," remarked Bynum on the Mentone, Calif. native, who ended the contest with a 2-for-3 showing. "She's one of those kids that might have a bad at-bat but learns from it and makes the adjustment her very next chance. I just can't say enough about what she has meant for this team this year."
Freshman Bayli Cruse followed the round tripper with a booming double into left center to put the tying run into scoring position. A strikeout and a groundout later put pinch-runner Amity Brown to third, before a Cortney Fry walk put runners on the corners with two down for Angi Sakamoto. The Waipahu, Hawaii native did not disappoint, lacing a single into left center to tie up the game at 4-4.
Sakamoto ended the tilt 3-for-4 with a hit-by-pitch, a run scored, and an RBI.
A walk to Sabrie Neeb then loaded the bases, before Hannah Eldridge sliced a two-run double down the right field line put the Golden Eagles on top for the first time in the ball game, at 6-4.
"My heart was just pounding out of my chest when it fell in," said Eldridge on her reaction once the ball fell safely to give Tech the two-run cushion. "I knew I had to find a way to put the ball in play. We had runners on the entire game, but couldn't seem to find a way to cash them in. I had to just find a way to make contact in that situation."
When it was all said and done, Tech batted around for the third time in the tournament, scoring four runs in the fifth for the second time in three tourney games as well, after accomplishing the feat Wednesday against No. 5 Eastern Kentucky.
"We've done it all year. We've come from behind so many times this season that we just knew we were going to find a way to do it again tonight," Eldridge said.
Liberatore made the two-run lead stand, blanking the Racers over the final two innings to push the Golden Eagles to the finish line. The sophomore hurler gave up just three hits (all of them singles) following the tough first inning, striking out 10 to push her OVC Tournament total to 32 punch outs in 20 innings in the circle.
"Danielle did a tremendous job of keeping us in the game," Bynum said, following a truly gritty performance from the ace of the Tech staff. "She came out a little bit flat. I think she was trying to overthrow, but once she settled in, I couldn't have asked any more from her."
Sophomore Mason Robinson was hit with the loss in relief, coming out of the bullpen in the fifth inning and giving up the two go-ahead runs.
The championship of the 2015 OVC Tournament is set to begin at 3 p.m. CT. A Golden Eagle victory and they will head to their first NCAA Tournament since 2007. Live video will be available, free of charge, on the OVC Digital Network. CLICK HERE TO WATCH. A Radio broadcast will also be available via the Golden Eagle Sports Network through FM 106.1 The Eagle. CLICK HERE TO LISTEN.
