By Holly Weber, TTU Sports Information Coordinator
COOKEVILLE, Tenn.—After opening conference play on the road last weekend, the Tennessee Tech softball team (8-18, 0-3 OVC) returns home to host two doubleheaders at the Tech Softball Field on Friday-Saturday.
On Friday, the Golden Eagles will host Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville (SIUE) (8-13, 2-1 OVC) in a 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. contest. The Cougars travel to Cookeville after opening conference play at home versus Austin Peay where they defeated the Governors two games to one.
Senior infielder Rachel Keller currently leads SIUE batting .288 on the season. Keller holds a .322 slugging percentage so far this year while totaling five RBI and is two-for-two on stolen base attempts. Sophomore Tess Eby is another key slugger on the Cougar lineup. Eby leads the team with a .492 slugging percentage and holds the second highest batting percentage at .286 on the season. She also leads the team with 18 RBI and has notched three homeruns and four doubles so far this year.
Baylee Douglas (4-4) leads SIUE in the circle with a 1.65 ERA. On the season, Douglas has pitched two complete game shutouts and two saves over 84.2 innings. The sophomore pitcher has racked up 57 strikeouts this year while only walking 15.
The Cougars lead the series 10-7 over the Golden Eagles, however, Tech last saw victory over SIUE defeating them in the second round of the 2015 OVC Tournament when the Cougars were the No. 1 seed, 4-1.
On Saturday, Tech will host Eastern Illinois (8-16, 3-0 OVC) in a two game series at 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. The Panthers opened conference play with a three-game sweep over UT Martin, and will face Jacksonville State, who recently swept the Golden Eagles in a three-game series, in a doubleheader on Friday before traveling to Cookeville.
Senior Katie Watson currently leads Eastern Illinois with a .300 batting average. On the season, Watson holds a .414 slugging percentage, racking up 10 RBI, one homerun, and five doubles on the season. Another key player on the Panther team is senior Kyle Bennett. Bennett leads EIU with a .673 slugging percentage while maintaining a .269 batting average on the season. She also heads the team with 14 RBI, while notching five homeruns, two triples, and two doubles so far this year.
Jessica Wireman (7-12) leads the Panthers in the circle with a 5.13 ERA. The sophomore pitcher has pitched three complete game shutouts over 93 innings, while striking out 89 and walking 54.
In the series, Tech leads EIU 33-22. The Panthers, however, most recently defeated the Golden Eagles in a 10-inning showdown last season when EIU won 3-2 on its home turf.
The Golden Eagles got off to a bit of a rough start this conference season, falling to Jacksonville State in all three road games. Sabrie Neeb and Alyssa Richards lead Tech each with a .260 batting average. Richards also heads the Golden Eagles with a .452 slugging percentage, notching 16 RBI on the season with four homeruns and two doubles, while teammate Neeb holds a .356 slugging percentage and has totaled 10 RBI, one homerun, and four doubles on the season.
Junior southpaw Danielle Liberatore (5-9) leads Tech from the circle with a 5.31 ERA. On the season, Liberatore has thrown two complete game shutouts over 63.1 innings. The Peotone, Ill., native has retired 87 batters, while walking 43.
Admittance to all home Tech softball games is free of charge. You can follow the Golden Eagles online on the TTU Sports Facebook page or on Twitter at @TTU_Softball and @TTUGoldenEagles.
