By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The last time Tennessee Tech hosted a softball game at the Tech Softball Field? April 28, 2019, as the Golden Eagles took on UT Martin in the regular-season finale.
Nearly twenty-three months later, Tech welcomes home fans back to the Tech Softball Field once more as the Golden Eagles entertain Southeast Missouri for a three-game set, starting on Friday.
The doubleheader against the Redhawks starts at noon on Friday, with the second game following approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first. A single game against SEMO will be held on Saturday, starting at 1 p.m.
The games were moved up from the originally scheduled Saturday/Sunday dates with the threat of weather, as well as multiple events on campus this weekend.
Admission to games at the Tech Softball Field is free to the public up to a third of the facility's capacity. In addition, masks will be required for all fans at the event and social distancing guidelines must be followed.
Tech started its 2021 Ohio Valley Conference season with a three-game sweep over Tennessee State as Haeli Bryson led the Golden Eagles at the plate with a .556 average last week, driving in two runs. The junior from Otto, N.C., also claimed a victory in the circle, allowing one earned run on six hits in a complete-game effort with six strikeouts.
The Golden Eagles' trio of Alyssa Arden, Bryson and Kendall Durard had a 1.33 earned run average last weekend in Nashville, yielding 13 hits in three games to the Tigers, while striking out 18 total batters. TSU hit .178 as a team against the Tech battery.
For the season, Tech has an 8-7 record. Sydney Love-Baker leads the way at the plate with a .356 batting average with three doubles, a triple and a home run as well as eight RBI. Freshman Mackenzie Fitzgerald is right up there as well with a .321 average, claiming three doubles and eight RBI to her credit. Redshirt senior Jessie Lowery leads the team in RBI with nine, while sharing the team-lead in runs scored with Love-Baker with six each.
Arden and Bryson have nearly identical ERA, with Arden posting four wins in eight starts. She has a 2.22 ERA across 47 1/3 innings with 35 strikeouts and opponents hitting .181. Bryson has a 3-0 mark in 25 2/3 innings of work, striking out 21.
SEMO comes into the weekend with a 4-9 record, 2-1 in the OVC after taking two of three from Austin Peay last week. Rachel Anderson leads the team at the plate with a .429 average and nine runs scored, while the unrelated Kaylee Anderson has a team-high four home runs and seven RBI to go along with a .368 average. Ashley Ellis leads the Redhawks with nine RBI.
In the circle, Rachel Rook leads SEMO with a 3-5 record in nine appearances, posting a 4.83 ERA with 38 strikeouts in 37 2/3 innings of work. Paytience Holman (0-4, 4.85) has eight appearances across 26 innings of work, while Marisa Davis (1-0, 2.76) has made eight appearances in 12 2/3 innings.
Photo | Matt Busch, ETSU Athletics
