SOFTBALL MOVES WINNING STREAK TO 11 GAMES WITH SWEEP OF (RV) BRENAU

Recap, photo courtesy of TWU

Athens, Tenn.- The softball team entered Tuesday riding a nine-game winning streak. The team looked to move their streak to 11 games at the conclusion of their doubleheader against the (RV) Brenau University Golden Tigers. The two teams came in with unblemished Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) records.

Game 1:

Tennessee Wesleyan took an early three-run lead in the first inning. Olivia Housewright led the inning with a walk before moving to second on Mackenzie Jackson's bunt-single. A Baylee Sutton single to right put the first run up when Housewright made it home. An Allee West single up the middle scored both Jackson and Sutton to make the score 3-0. Malyssa Jeter's double in the second inning was converted into a run as she got on third by Shea Lipe's sacrifice bunt and scored on a wild pitch, giving the Lady Bulldogs a 4-0 advantage.

Courtney Calkins kept the Brenau batters in check as TWU made another move in the sixth inning. The inning looked like it was going to be over quick with the first two batters recording two quick outs. Housewright changed the outlook with her single through the hole at short. Jackson kept the inning going with her single and Sutton did the damage, hitting a blast to deep center field to bring in both base runners. Courtney Black followed at the plate and dropped a single into right field to score Sutton, helping Calkins and the Lady Bulldogs get the shutout win 7-0.

Sutton finished the game 2-3 with two runs and three RBIs while West went 2-4 from the plate with two RBIs. Calkins allowed just three hits in the complete game shutout.

Game 2:

Even though Tennessee Wesleyan got two hits in the first inning, a run did not cross until the second inning. It came when Sivan Palacios got on base with a single and moved into scoring position on West's sacrifice bunt. A single to right by Jeter scored the only run of the inning when Palacios crossed home plate.

After the Golden Tigers tied it in the third inning, a downpour of runs came in the bottom half of the same inning. After an out by the first batter, Sutton and Black hit back-to-back singles to put two runners on. A fielder's choice on Palacios' hit scored Sutton as she beat the throw to the plate. A double to left center by West left her alone on third as Black and Palacios both scored, making the score 4-0.

The onslaught continued with Briana Muller's walk putting runners on first and second before West scored on Jeter's single. Muller moved to third on the single and scored on a wild pitch. The hits kept piling on as Housewright singled to right, moving Jeter to third. A passed ball gave Jeter the space to score and put Housewright in scoring position on second. The batting order returned to the top of the lineup and saw Jackson bring in a run with her single to left when Housewright tapped home plate with her foot, giving the Lady Bulldogs an 8-0 advantage. Sutton reached base for the second time in the inning, only standing on first momentarily as Black sent a ball to center field, scoring both Jackson and Sutton. The two runs gave TWU nine runs in the inning and brought the mercy rule into effect with the team leading 10-1.

Cheyenne Strong and the defense behind her got the team to the five-inning mercy rule, not giving up a hit in the process of the team's 10-1, five-inning win.

Housewright, Jackson, Black, and Jeter each finished 2-3 from the dish while Black, West, and Jeter had two RBIs each. Strong made multiple batters swing and miss to the tune of nine strikeouts in the no-hitter for the Lady Bulldogs.

Tennessee Wesleyan (11-1, 8-0 AAC)  go on the road for their next action on the diamond. The team makes the short trip up the road to Madisonville, Tenn., on Friday to take on Hiwassee College at 1:00 PM.