Golden Eagles split games in doubleheader with Austin Peay
A three-run Sabrie Neeb homerun and solo blasts from Sarah Freels and Olivia Bennett highlighted Sunday’s doubleheader action for the Tennessee Tech softball team as they faced OVC-opponent Austin Peay.
Game 1
Game 1
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 0 |
|
|
0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | X | 5 | 11 | 0 |
Game 2
Game 2
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
1 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 11 | 1 |
|
|
0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
By Holly Weber, TTU Sports Information Coordinator
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn.—A three-run Sabrie Neeb homerun and solo blasts from Sarah Freels and Olivia Bennett highlighted Sunday's doubleheader action for the Tennessee Tech softball team (19-28, 10-11 OVC) as they faced OVC-opponent Austin Peay (7-34, 3-18 OVC). The Governors came out on top in game one, defeating the Golden Eagles 5-1, however, Tech bested Austin Peay in game two with a commanding 12-1 victory.
The Governors got on the board first in game one in the bottom of the third with a two-run homerun to center field by Kacy Acree, giving Austin Peay the 2-0 lead. The Governors continued their scoring drive into the bottom of the fourth when Chandler Groves hit an RBI-single to extend their lead to 3-0.
Austin Peay continued to add buffer to its lead when the Governors added two more in the bottom of sixth off of a Carly Mattson RBI-double to right center and a Danielle Liermann RBI-single through the right side to push the score to 5-0.
The Golden Eagles notched their only run in the top of the seventh from an RBI-single by Bayli Cruse to stop the Austin Peay shutout and close out the game 5-1.
Danielle Liberatore (12-12) suffered the loss for Tech, going for three innings and allowing two runs off of five hits and striking out five. Natalie Ayala (1-10) saw victory for Austin Peay pitching 6.1 innings and allowing just one run off of six hits and striking out four.
The Golden Eagles wasted no time getting on the board in game two when Cruse hit an RBI-single to right field to notch Tech's first run of the game and give the Golden Eagles the 1-0 lead. Tech kept its bats going into the top of the second when junior Freels hit an RBI-double to left center to extend the Golden Eagle lead to 2-0.
Into the top of the third, Tech continued to refuse to relent. The Golden Eagles tacked on two more runs off of a two-RBI single down the right field line from Callen Griffin to further extend the lead to 4-0, but they would not stop there. Later in the inning, an Austin Peay fielding error allowed two more Tech runners to score and then senior Neeb followed up with a three-run homerun to center field to take a commanding 9-0 lead.
A solo-homerun to left field from Courtney Brower opened the bottom of the third inning for Austin Peay to cut the Tech lead to 9-1, however, an Bennett solo-homerun to left field in the top of the fourth, quickly put the Golden Eagles back up by nine at 10-1. The bats just kept going into the top of the fifth inning, when Freels opened the inning with a solo blast to centerfield to now put Tech up 11-1. Later in the inning, Ashley McGowan knocked in another Golden Eagle runner when she grounded out to second base to round out a 12-1 Tech victory.
Hannah Weaver (3-8) saw victory for Tech pitching the complete five innings and allowing just one run on three hits. Autumn Hanners (3-14) suffered the loss for Austin Peay pitching 2.1 innings and allowing nine runs (eight earned) off of seven hits.
The Golden Eagles return to action on Wednesday when they travel to Knoxville to compete against the No. 13 University of Tennessee in a 5 p.m. contest.
