By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – It was a pitchers' duel from start to finish, but it all came down to one run in the top of the seventh as UT Martin took the 1-0 victory on Sunday to take the series from Tennessee Tech.

The Golden Eagles (17-18, 8-10 Ohio Valley Conference) return to action on Wednesday as they host East Tennessee State for a midweek contest with a 5 p.m. start. Conference action resumes next Saturday at Eastern Illinois.

Emily York took the tough-luck loss to fall to 6-4 on the season. She went the distance, allowing the single run on four hits – only one through the first six innings. York went 1-2-3 in the first and second, gave up a leadoff double to Avry Blume in the third, put together another 1-2-3 frame in the fourth, yielded a walk and nothing else in the fifth, then one more 1-2-3 inning in the sixth.

Olivia Evans played a big part with a SportsCenter Top 10-worthy diving catch in the bottom of the second to end the inning

But in the seventh, the Skyhawks came through. Katie Dreiling led off with a double to right. With Kyla Harley running in her place, Maddie Long drove her in with a single to center field. UTM got one more hit, but York got out of the inning with no further damage as she retired the next three batters in succession with three fly balls on the first pitch to the outfield.

Abby Shoulders, Abby Buettner, S.J. Talley and Abbee Klinefelter had the four Tech hits in the contest.

While Tech had four hits, the Golden Eagles only stranded two runners as the Skyhawks caught two base thefts.

Dreiling came on in relief in the fifth inning and she quieted the Tech bats down as she pitched the final 2 2/3 innings without allowing a single baserunner to earn the victory as the pitcher of record. UTM starter Kiersten Nixon pitched the first 4 1/3 innings, allowing four hits and striking out two.

Photo | Jim Dillon