By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – The last time Tennessee Tech faced Bowling Green on Feb. 14, starting pitcher Payton Gottshall struck out 17 Golden Eagles en route to a 3-1 victory.
Tech (9-7) was determined not to let that happen again. Instead, it was Alyssa Arden who proved dominant as the sophomore pitcher earned the complete game victory as she walked one, allowed a hit on a bunt and struck out a career-high 11 to take a 4-0 victory over the Falcons and avenge the earlier loss.
The Golden Eagles, however, wrapped up Sunday's action with homestanding East Tennessee State, falling 10-1 in six innings.
As Betty Basler Field finally thawed from the wintry weather earlier this weekend, Tech finally found an answer for Gottshall as Alexis Trimiar collected the first hit in the second inning, then things started to unravel for the BGSU freshman in the third.
KaDedra Temple was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning, then Sydney Love-Baker singled past short. Jessie Lowery grounded to third, but the fielder chose to erase the lead runner, keeping two on with one out. Haeli Bryson drove in the first run as she pushed a single through the right side, giving Love-Baker plenty of room to score.
In the fourth, with one down, Trimiar got her second hit with a shot up the middle, which ended up pulling the plug on Gottshall. Shelby Penning was hit by a pitch, then a ground ball moved the runners up, followed by a wild pitch allowing Trimiar to score. Love-Baker sent a ball into right field, but a fielding error allowed the Tech junior to reach and Penning to score. Love-Baker came home herself on Lowery's triple on the next pitch.
Arden continued to mow down the Falcons with Greta L'Esperance breaking up the no-no bid in the bottom of the sixth with two down, reaching on a bunt single to the third base side.
The Tech pitcher earned her sixth win of the season, while Gottshall was on the hook for her third loss of the year. She allowed two runs on four hits, walking one and striking out six over 3 1/3 innings. Madison French worked the final 3 2/3, allowing two unearned runs on three hits, walking one and striking out two.
In the second game, Kelly Schmidt kept the Golden Eagles from putting more than one run across, while the Buccaneers pulled a play out of Tech's playbook and put together a six-run inning in the fifth.
Bryson took the loss, allowing four runs on eight hits over 4 1/3 innings with no walks and three strikeouts. Arden came on in relief, allowing three runs on one hit – a grand slam from Kylie Toler with an inherited runner – with two walks and a strikeout in 2/3 of a frame. Kendall Durard closed out the contest, allowing three runs on two hits with two walks over one-third of a frame before ETSU enacted the run rule in the sixth.
Schmidt improved to 2-1, allowing one unearned run on six hits, walking one and striking out one.
Tech scored its lone run in the second inning as Trimiar came home to score during a 4-3 double play off Nicolle Nysted's bat.
ETSU tied the game in the fourth, then pushed six runs across in the fifth, including the Toler grand slam. An RBI double for Andrea Sarhatt and a two-run triple for Makenna Helton ended the contest early in the sixth.
The Golden Eagles close out the Buccaneer Classic on Monday as Tech takes on Tennessee at 11 a.m., followed by a return contest against East Tennessee State at 1 p.m.
