Golden Eagles host SIUE this weekend
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – It’s been a weird weather week in Cookeville as the Tennessee Tech softball team already saw one contest scratched on Wednesday. With rain and snow in the forecast for Friday and Saturday, the Golden Eagles will shift their weekend slate just slightly. Tech (23-11, 6-5 Ohio Valley Conference) will still host SIUE, but the schedule has changed. Now, the Golden Eagles will host the Cougars in a single game on Saturday, starting at 3 p.m., then in a twinbill on Sunday starting at noon. Admission to games at Tech Softball Field is free to the public. Streaming-wise, Dylan Vazzano will have the call for all three games online on ESPN+ (subscription required).
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
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0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 |
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2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | X | 4 | 5 | 0 |
Game 1
Game 1
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2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 8 | 4 |
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1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 5 | X | 12 | 12 | 2 |
Game 2
Game 2
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1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 2 |
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0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 9 | 2 |
By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – It's been a weird weather week in Cookeville as the Tennessee Tech softball team already saw one contest scratched on Wednesday. With rain and snow in the forecast for Friday and Saturday, the Golden Eagles will shift their weekend slate just slightly.
Tech (23-11, 6-5 Ohio Valley Conference) will still host SIUE, but the schedule has changed. Now, the Golden Eagles will host the Cougars in a single game on Saturday, starting at 3 p.m., then in a twinbill on Sunday starting at noon. Admission to games at Tech Softball Field is free to the public.
Streaming-wise, Dylan Vazzano will have the call for all three games online on ESPN+ (subscription required).
It's been a hotly contested series, even though it's a relatively newer one in program history. The Cougars lead 14-12 in meetings back to 2009. SIUE won 10 of the first 13 games in the series, then the Golden Eagles won all four meetings in 2015. Since 2016, the two teams have swapped wins back and forth with Tech winning five and SIUE winning four.
The two teams have also traded former standout players as assistant coaches as Tech pitcher Danielle Liberatore, who led the Golden Eagles to the 2015 OVC tournament title and NCAA Auburn Regional, coaches for the Cougars and Zoe Schafer, one of SIUE's top career hitters, coaches for Tech.
The Cougars come into the weekend with a 13-20 record, 5-6 in the OVC. Prior to a midweek nonconference loss to Illinois on Tuesday, falling 8-0 in five innings to the Illini, SIUE has won five straight conference games, sweeping Tennessee State last weekend with a 1-0, 5-0 and 2-1 result after earning a 12-11 and 7-3 doubleheader sweep over Eastern Illinois in their midweek travel partner twinbill.
It snapped a six-game losing streak to open league play after getting shutout twice against Murray State in a Racer sweep, followed by a trio of losses in Nashville against Belmont.
For the season, SIUE is batting .256, collecting 102 RBI and hitting 23 home runs, while coming home to score 118 times. The Cougars have a staff ERA average of 4.82, walking 97 and striking out 150 with opponents hitting .294.
The Golden Eagles, meanwhile with one more game played, is batting .295 with 178 RBI, 35 home runs and scoring 207 times. Tech has a staff ERA of 3.11, walking 62 and striking out 130 with opponents hitting .263.
SIUE has three players with double-digit RBIs, led by Grace Lueke (.322) with 23, as well as a team-best eight home runs. Lexi King (.336) has driven in 17 and scored 19 times, while also swiping a team-high seven of eight bases. Lauren Yslava (.354) has driven in 16.
In the circle, Mia Haynes has made the most appearances and starts, collecting a 5-11 record on the year with a 4.63 ERA. She has walked 42 and struck out 77 with opponents hitting .293. King and Sydney Baalman each have four wins, while Kelsey Ray is still looking for her first win of the season.
Tech has nine players with double-digit RBI totals, led by Haeli Bryson with 33 to go along with eight round-trippers on the year. Abby Buettner has 23 RBI, Carmen Betts 22 and Mackenzie Fitzgerald 19 to lead the way. Fitzgerald has also swiped 19 of 21 bases on the year and come home to score a team-best 40 times.
As a team, Tech is two home runs and four RBI shy of entering the program's top 10 for a single season, though still a fair distance away from the one-year bests in both categories – 82 home runs and 339 RBI, both set in the 2007 campaign.
In the circle, Alyssa Arden will be looking for her 12th win of the season, posting an 11-7 record thus far with a 3.31 ERA. She has 27 walks and 64 strikeouts, while opponents are hitting .263. Freshman Tyler Erwin has a 8-1 record with a 2.54 ERA, while Bryson is 4-3 with a 2.98 ERA. Erwin and Bryson have combined for 31 walks and 64 strikeouts in 18 starts between them.
Photo | Jim Dillon
