By Holly Weber, TTU Sports Information Coordinator
COOKEVILLE, Tenn.—The Tennessee Tech softball team (23-30, 14-12 OVC) split games with conference-opponent Eastern Kentucky (34-15, 16-8 OVC) in day one doubleheader action. The Golden Eagles first defeated the Colonels 6-0, but then fell 7-1 in game two.
Tech got off to a solid start in game one, with senior Neeb leading off the Golden Eagle offense with a single to right field. Gabby Perez then came up to the dish and singled towards the third baseman, beating the throw, which allowed Neeb to advance to third. With runners at the corners and no outs, Bennett stepped up to the plate and singled up the middle to drive in Neeb and advance Perez to second, notching the Golden Eagle's first run of the game. Later in the inning with two down and two on, Callen Griffin singled to center field to score Perez and extend Tech's lead to 2-0 in the first inning.
The Golden Eagles wasted no time picking back up where they left off in the bottom of the second with Perez laying down a single up the middle to score another Tech runner. Bennett again stepped up to the dish and followed suit with a single up the middle allowing Perez and herself to score when a throwing error was made by Eastern Kentucky's catcher to extend the Golden Eagle lead to 5-0.
Tech rounded out their six-run shutout in the bottom of the fourth, when Bennett took a base on balls driving in teammate Sarah Freels.
Danielle Liberatore (15-12) notched the complete game shutout for the Golden Eagles, her fifth shutout of the season, and third in conference-play. The southpaw retired 10 batters at the plate, while walking just one in the four-hit contest. Hayley Flynn (23-8) suffered the loss for the Colonels. Flynn went for 1.2 innings and allowed four runs (three earned) off of five hits.
Game two then fell in favor of Eastern Kentucky. The Colonels opened up their scoring drive in the top of the second when Amber Murray doubled to right center to notch the first EKU run of the day. From there, the Colonels continued to add one more in the third off of a Golden Eagle throwing error, and three more in the top of the sixth off of two singles to extend their lead to 5-0.
Neeb then put a stop to the EKU shutout, when she opened the bottom of the sixth with a solo blast to right center, cutting the Colonel lead to 5-1. Eastern Kentucky went on to add two more in the top of the seventh to round out its 7-1 victory.
Flynn (24-8) now captured the win for the Colonels pitching the complete game. She allowed just one run off of four hits, while retiring five at the plate. Weaver (4-10) suffered the loss for the Golden Eagles. She went for 5.0 innings and allowed four runs (three earned) off of nine hits.
Not only is it the final weekend at home for Tech, but Saturday was also senior day at the Tech Softball Field, where all five of the Golden Eagle seniors (Sabrie Neeb, Olivia Bennett, Cortney Fry, Madison Taylor, and Hannah Weaver) were honored in between games, and presented with their framed jersey.
Tech and Eastern Kentucky will round out its three-game series on Sunday with a 1 p.m. contest at the Tech Softball Field.
