Golden Eagles battle to the finish, but fall in OVC to UT-Martin, 4-2

JACKSONVILLE, Ala. – UT Martin managed just an unearned run and three hits Saturday morning, but all three cleared the fences for solo home runs, and that added up to a 4-2 victory for the Skyhawks over Tennessee Tech, eliminating the Golden Eagles from the 2009 Ohio Valley Conference Tournement.

UT Martin (36-22) earned the right to advance to the championship game against Southeast Missouri, while Tech headed home with a 26-31 overall record.

The teams traded home runs for the first two runs of the game. Megan Williams swatted a two-out home run in the top of the first inning, and Callie Schmidt answered in the top of the second with a leadoff blast to center field to tie the score.

UTM took advantage of two umpiring calls to plate an unearned run and take a 2-1 lead. Laura Lindow walked to open the inning and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. With two outs, a safe call at first put runners on the corner and on the very next pitch, Schmissrauter was called for an illegal pitch, allowing both runners to advance, with Lindow trotting home.

Megan VanArsdale led off the bottom of the third with a solo home run, only the second hit allowed by Tech starter Maddie Schmissrauter. That made it 3-1.

The Golden Eagles trimmed the deficit to 3-2 in the top of the sixth as Kaleigh Gates singled, moved to second on a groundout, and scored when Whitney Cummings ripped a ball to left field. The outfielder made a diving attempt for the ball, but it dropped and was ruled an error, scoring Gates.

Savannah Roberts added an insurance run for UTM in the bottom of the sixth with a home run to left to make it 4-2.

Schmidt had two of Tech's five hits off Kara Harper (18-8), who went the distance for UT-Martian and got the win. She didn't walk a batter and struck out three.

Schmissrauter (11-11) took the loss, working 5.1 innings and allowing three hits. She walked three and struck out four. Kristina Hortert pitched the final 2/3 of an inning.