COLUMBUS, Ga. – After a good 3-2 start to the campaign last week, the Tennessee Tech softball team is heading down to Georgia to compete in the Army Columbus Classic at the South Commons Complex. The Golden Eagles will take on the host Army twice, as well as two contests against Syracuse before wrapping up Sunday against Long Island.

 

Tech will start its play Friday with an 11:30 a.m. CT contest against Army, then a 4 p.m. CT game against Syracuse. Saturday will see the same two pairings as the Golden Eagles will face the Black Knights at 9 a.m. CT and the Orange at 2 p.m. CT. Tech closes out the tournament with an 11:30 a.m. CT contest against LIU on Sunday.

 

The schedule is subject to change and weather permitting.

 

Army has started off the season with a 2-4 record. During their Southern California Tour appearance last week, the Black Knights fell 4-1 to Nevada, claimed wins over Loyola Marymount and UC Riverside, before dropping three straight to Riverside, California Baptist and San Diego State.

 

Ashton White leads the Black Knights with a .350 batting average, but the bulk of Army's production so far has come off the bat of Caitlyn Newburn, who is batting .316 with seven RBI, two doubles and three home runs through their first six games. 

 

As a team, Army is batting .256 with 20 RBI.

 

In the circle, Katelyn Flanders has the team's lowest ERA with a 1.66 mark over 12 2/3 innings with six walks and 11 strikeouts, while allowing three runs. Breanna Izzo (1-1) has a 5.02 ERA with four walks to 14 strikeouts, but has allowed 16 runs – 11 earned – on 22 hits. 

 

Syracuse has started the season with a 5-0 record, sweeping through its play last week at the UNCW tournament with a pair of victories over Le Moyne and host UNC Wilmington sandwiching a 3-0 victory over Queens out of the Atlantic Sun.

 

Gabby Lantier has Syracuse's top batting average with a .667 clip in the first five games, but Madelyn Lopez has the most hits, collecting nine to pace her .600 batting average with three RBI. Peyton Schemmer (.333) has the most RBI with four, while Jaydn Burney (.417) has the most runs scored with four.

 

As a team, Syracuse is batting .328 with 17 RBI.

 

In the circle, the Orange have a combined GPA of 0.20 with 11 walks to 38 strikeouts as they allowed three runs last weekend with only one earned. Juliana Verni and Madison Knight both picked up two victories last week and have 0.00 ERAs thus far. 

 

LIU went 1-4 last week at the FGCU Kickoff Classic in Fort Meyers, Fla., picking up its lone win over Indiana State and dropping games to Boston, Boston College, Indiana State and the host FGCU.

 

As a team, LIU is batting .144 with seven RBI. Devon Medina (.333) and Hannah Burnett (.308) have the top two batting averages for the team, but Lily Hinkle (.214) has the team's most RBI with three.

 

In the circle, LIU has a 4.42 ERA with 13 walks to 10 strikeouts. Sophia Mariottini picked up the lone victory last week and has posted a 0.66 ERA thus far, allowing two runs – one earned – on 10 hits with four walks and three strikeouts.

 

The Golden Eagles dropped their first two games of the season last week at the Furman Paladin Invitational with a 3-2 loss to South Carolina State and a 5-3 decision in favor of Stonehill. Tech responded with a 5-1 win over the Lady Bulldogs and two straight wins over Evansville – 2-0 on Saturday and a 7-4 extra-inning victory on Sunday.

 

As a team, Tech is batting .284 with 15 RBI. Abbee Klinefelter leads the team with a .545 batting average with six hits – including three doubles and a home run – and two RBI. Abby Shoulders (.412) has the most hits with seven and runs scored with six. Sydney Kirby (.250) has the most RBI with five.

 

In the circle, the Golden Eagles currently have a 1.78 ERA, led by Emily York with a 0.62 to go with her 1-1 record and 12 strikeouts. Addison Abell, who shared the Ohio Valley Conference's Pitcher of the Week honor, had a win and a save with a 0.64 ERA in the first week, striking out 10.