Thomas, Golden Eagles net second straight with 9-1 victory
Holly Thomas had another solid showing in the circle Sunday and the Tech softball team won its second straight game with a convincing 9-1 victory over host Kennesaw State.
Home opener is Wednesday doubleheader vs. Middle
Tennessee
KENNESAW, Ga. – Sophomore pitcher Holly Thomas had another
solid showing in the circle Sunday and the Tennessee Tech softball
team won its second straight game with a convincing 9-1 victory
over host Kennesaw State, allowing the Golden Eagles to wrap up
play on the opening weekend of the season with a 2-3 record in the
Kennesaw State Invitational.
After dropping their first three contests of the tournament, the
Golden Eagles bounced back behind Thomas. On Saturday, she struck
out 10 as Tech downed Alabama State, 7-0.
Sunday, Thomas (2-1) pitched all five innings and allowed just one
run on four hits to get the victory over the Owls. She walked three
and struck out six in the game, shortened to five innings due to
the 8-run rule.
The Owls (4-3) jumped to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first
frame, getting three of their four hits in the contest in
succession with two outs. After the third straight single plated
the first run of the game, Thomas walked a batter to load the
bases, then got out of the inning with a strikeout.
The Owls got the leadoff batter aboard in the second on an error,
and after that Thomas settled down and slammed the door, allowing
just one more hit.
The Golden Eagles rewarded her with a five-run third inning and
added four more in the fifth.
In the third, Tech hung five runs on the board with four hits and
three KSU errors. Brooke Basten reached on a walk to lead things
off, freshman Melody Christian singled and freshman Brittney
Spalding doubled to drive in the tying run. Whitney Cummings’
sacrifice bunt plated Christian for a 2-1 lead and two more errors
put a third runner across for coach Tory Acheson’s squad.
Callie Schmidt followed with a sacrifice fly to make it 4-1 and an
RBI single from Kaleigh Gates made it 5-1.
Kennesaw threatened in the bottom of the fourth, putting two
runners on base with a leadoff triple and a walk, but Thomas coaxed
another inning-ending strikeout.
The fourth inning saw Tech combine four hits with another Owl
errors for four runs, with Gates delivering another RBI on a
two-out single with two runners aboard. Basten kept the rally going
with an RBI single and pinch-hitter Anna Zdroik hammered a two-run
double to right center.
It’s a busy week coming up for the Golden Eagles who play at
home in the middle of the week by hosting Middle Tennessee State in
a Wednesday doubleheader then hit the road for another weekend
tournament. The games against MTSU are the team’s first of
the year at home, with first pitch set for 1 p.m. in the opening
contest. Admission to all regular season home games is free.
This weekend it’s the Frost Classic in Chattanooga, with
games against Miami (Ohio) and Oakland on Friday, Wright State and
Kansas Saturday, and East Tennessee State on Sunday.
