By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
CHATTANOOGA – After a strong start last week at the Blue Hose Invitational, the Tennessee Tech softball team returns to action this weekend with a trip to the Chattanooga Challenge.
The Golden Eagles (4-1) will play Purdue Fort Wayne at 11:30 a.m. Friday followed by Northwestern State at 2 p.m. on the first day. Indiana State at 11:30 a.m. Saturday and an afternoon contest against host Chattanooga at 4:30 p.m. makes up the second day. Tech closes out the tournament with a single game on Sunday, taking on Radford at 12:30 p.m.
The Mastadons went 0-5 last week to open the season, splitting time at the Alabama State Stinger Classic and the Troy Trojan Classic. They fell to Austin Peay 14-0 then 7-0 to Alabama State. Saturday saw an 8-0 loss to Southern Illinois and a pair of 9-1 and 16-5 defeats to Troy.
Taryn Jenkins batted .500 for the week to lead the squad, while Brayden Lickey had two of the Mastadons' four RBI last week. The pitching staff had a tough week, posting a 13.23 staff ERA, allowing 54 runs on 53 hits across 24 1/3 innings, yielding six home runs while walking 29 and striking out 14.
The Lady Demons opened the season last week with a home tournament, going 3-1 with a 1-0 victory over Chattanooga, 4-0 win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff and 1-0 win over UT Martin before falling 5-0 to Baylor. NSU also takes on Louisiana Tech on Wednesday evening before departing for this weekend's tournament.
Through the first four games, Kat Marshall leads the Lady Demon offense with a .400 average, while driving in three of the team's six RBI with two home runs and collecting 12 total bases. The team compiled a 0.50 ERA as Sage Hoover (0.00, 13 Ks), Kenzie Seely (0.00, 2 Ks) and Maggie Darr (0.72, 9 Ks) all went 1-0 last weekend.
Indiana State finished 2-2 at the Stetson Lead-Off Classic, splitting games against Georgia State, falling to Delaware and topping Stetson in extra innings. Bella Peterson went .529 at the plate last week, driving in three of the Sycamores' 11 RBI with a home run and 15 total bases. Lexi Benko (1-1, 2.10 ERA, 9 Ks) and Cassi Newbanks (1-1, 5.79 ERA, 4 Ks) picked up Indiana State's victories in the circle.
Chattanooga went 1-3 in Northwestern State's Lady Demon Classic, falling 7-1 to UT Martin, 10-5 to Baylor and beating Arkansas-Pine Bluff 17-0. Olivia Lipari drove in a team-high four runs, while Jayce Purdy, Gracey Kruse, Liz Rodebaugh each drove in three.
Brooke Parrott picked up the Lady Mocs' lone win, posting a 0.66 ERA in three appearances, walking six and striking out 11 across 10 2/3 innings. Opponents hit .088 against her as she allowed three hits.
Radford went 3-2 last week at the Georgia Southern Bash in the Boro, falling 3-2 to Binghamton, sweeping East Tennessee State 9-5 and 9-3, then splitting with Georgia Southern, dropping a 6-0 decision before winning 7-1.
Cori McMillan batted .412 during the tournament, driving in eight runs with two doubles and three RBI. Hannah Poole also drove in six runs with a home run as Radford hit six home runs in the weekend. Emily Spingarn went 2-0 on the trip, collecting a 3.68 ERA, while Jessie Marvin has a 6.75 ERA with a 1-1 record. Skyler Dehart went 0-1 despite posting a 2.84 ERA across 12 2/3 innings.
Tech opened the season with three straight wins at the Blue Hose Invitational, topping Northern Kentucky 5-0, Presbyterian 2-0 and run-ruling South Carolina State 13-2 in five innings. Northern Kentucky took a 6-5 walk-off win to break the streak, then Tech finished the tournament with a 13-0, five-inning win over South Carolina State.
Haeli Bryson drove in eight runs with a triple and a home run among six hits and a .375 average, while Mackenzie Fitzgerald batted .389 and scored seven times. Sydney Love-Baker also collected five RBI on the weekend.
In the circle, Alyssa Arden went 2-1 with a 0.58 ERA as opponents hit .077 against her, walking one and striking out eight. Tyler Erwin (1-0, 1.83 ERA) and Bryson (1-0, 2.17 ERA) also picked up wins in the tournament.
