By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
ST. CHARLES, Mo. – It's a big weekend for the Tennessee Tech softball team as the Golden Eagles head to St. Charles, Mo., to take on Lindenwood in an important Ohio Valley Conference series for both teams.
The series will begin with a doubleheader on Saturday, starting at 12 p.m., while the set concludes with a single game on Sunday at noon. All three games will be streamed on ESPN+ (subscription required).
As the penultimate weekend of the OVC season opens, Tech currently stands in seventh place at 8-13, one game ahead of Western Illinois at 7-14, two-and-a-half games up on UT Martin (6-14) and five-and-a-half games up on Morehead State (3-17) – the Golden Eagles' opponent next week.
The top eight teams will go to Peoria for the conference tournament in two weeks.
Lindenwood (11-10), meanwhile, stands in fifth by just two percentage points, sandwiched by Southern Indiana (10-9) in fourth and Tennessee State (10-10) in sixth. Eastern Illinois (17-3), SIUE (15-5) and Southeast Missouri (14-6) are on the inside track for the top three spots and could have those secured this weekend as EIU hosts SIUE and SEMO hosts Southern Indiana.
The teams around the Golden Eagles in the standings could shift as Tennessee State is at UT Martin and Western Illinois is at Morehead State. Tech swept both the Skyhawks and the Leathernecks, which would give the Golden Eagles the advantage in the case of a tie.
Two wins or a sweep this weekend over the Lions would greatly help the Golden Eagles' case, but it certainly won't be easy.
The Lions are 20-21 overall and are coming off of a close 4-3 battle against Saint Louis on Wednesday night. Lindenwood won two out three last weekend at Morehead State, falling 15-4 in five innings before taking care of business 8-4 and 12-7 in the final two games. They lost the middle match against Western Illinois as well and have gone 5-4 in their last nine conference games.
As a team, Lindenwood is batting .250 with 152 runs scored and 135 RBI. The Lions have 67 extra-base hits – 41 doubles, seven triples and 19 home runs. Jolie McMinn (.312) leads the team in RBI with 27, while tying with Tori Hatton (.257) with five home runs each. Nicole Henson (.333) leads Lindenwood in average with a .333 mark, while scoring 17 times – tied with Irelynn West (.281) for the most on the squad. Henson also leads the team with 10 stolen bases.
In the circle, the Lions have a cumulative 3.49 earned run average with opponents hitting .264 against them. The bulk of the innings have gone to Avery Wapp (8-7, 2.49 ERA) with 101 1/3 frames worked and Ryleigh Owens (10-7, 2.93 ERA) in 98 innings pitched. Wapp has walked 32 and struck out 111, while Owens has 56 walks and 64 strikeouts.
Tech, 16-19 overall, is coming off of a good outing against a power-hitting team, taking Austin Peay to extra innings for a 7-6 loss, but outhit the Governors and were in position to potentially take the win from the former conference foe. The Golden Eagles went 1-2 last week against Southeast Missouri and have gone 4-5 in their last nine league games.
As a team, the Golden Eagles are hitting .271 with 182 runs scored and 156 RBI. Tech has 68 extra-base hits – 55 doubles, six triples and seven home runs. With a 3-for-3 performance against the Governors, Olivia Evans took over the team lead in batting average with a .330 clip, going 34 for 103. Abby Shoulders (.326) has team highs in runs scored (30), hits (43) and stolen bases (25), while Sydney Kirby (.313) leads the team in doubles (16) and RBI (27) and Abbe Klinefelter (.311) stands close behind witn 26 RBI.
In the circle, Tech has a cumulative 3.79 ERA with opponents hitting .268 against. Emily York has seen the most innings, throwing 103 2/3 with a 3.24 ERA and an 8-7 record. Payton Wagner (2-9) has the team's best ERA with a 3.16 mark, while Lainey Fitzgerald (4-9, 4.05 ERA) has the team lead in strikeouts.
Following this weekend's series, Tech will close out the non-conference slate at Chattanooga on Wednesday, while finishing out the home schedule with Morehead State next Saturday and Sunday. Admission to all games at Tech Softball Field is free to the public.
Photo | Jim Dillon
