SKYHAWK SOFTBALL CONCLUDES SEASON WITH DOUBLEHEADER SPLIT AT TENNESSEE TECH

Saturday, May 8

Cookeville, Tenn.

2 p.m.

UT Martin

27-18, 0

Tennessee Tech

18-30, 0

UT Martin

Tennessee Tech

SKYHAWK SOFTBALL CONCLUDES SEASON WITH DOUBLEHEADER SPLIT AT TENNESSEE TECH

5/8/2021 11:13:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Game 45: PDF Game 46: PDF

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The University of Tennessee at Martin softball team put the finishing touches on its 2021 campaign with a split on the final day of the regular season against Ohio Valley Conference foe Tennessee Tech, posting a 2-0 victory in Game 1 before falling 7-4 in Game 2.

The Skyhawks finished the season 27-19 overall while posting a 16-15 mark in league play to record the team's first winning season in OVC action since 2017.

UT Martin outhit Tennessee Tech in the doubleheader 17-13 with four different players tallying multiple base hits. Paige Clark led the team with four hits on the day with a pair of doubles out of the leadoff spot. Senior Aalia Bivens tallied three hits in her final collegiate contest at the field where her career began after playing her freshman season at Tennessee Tech while freshman Macey Neal also notched three singles.

Kaitlyn Kelley was the final Skyhawk to post a multi-hit outing while also tallying a two-run home run. Kelley finished her record-setting campaign with a single-season record 17 home runs while tallying 48 RBIs which ranks tied for the third-most in school history.

One of the best individual performances came from Erin Gallagher (6-6) in the circle. Gallagher secured her sixth win and first shutout of the season after striking out five and issuing one walk on the afternoon over seven innings in Game 1.

Seeley Layne (1-4) was hit with the loss in the finale, scattering six hits while striking out three over four innings. However, all five runs charged to Layne were unearned. Freshman Emily Brown also appeared in relief, tossing two innings while allowing two runs.

Game 1: UT Martin 2, Tennessee Tech 0
In a contest with limited offensive production, UT Martin used the third inning to set the team apart. A leadoff single to left center by Neal started the big inning before a double to right center by Clark put the pair in scoring position with no outs on the board. Keeping the momentum going, Shyanne Sheffield tallied the team's third consecutive hit – this time a single to left – to clear the bases and give the Skyhawks a 2-0 advantage.

With the two-score margin under her belt, Gallagher kept her dominant streak alive by retiring nine of the next 10 Golden Eagle batters which stepped to the plate.

The Golden Eagles did mount one final rally attempt in the bottom of the sixth inning with a pair of base hits while placing runners on the corners, but Gallagher and the Skyhawks would escape the jam unscathed to secure the shutout victory.

Game 2: Tennessee Tech 7, UT Martin 4
After being shutout in the opener and dropping nine-straight games, Tennessee Tech came out looking to make a statement early in the second game of the Senior Day contest and regular season finale. On the second pitch of the inning, Mackenzi Fitzgerald tripled to right field before a fielding error brought home the first run of the game to score.

The Skyhawks quickly answered in the top of the second to tie the game up at one after Bivens drove a double to center. Later in the inning, Neal singled to left to move Bivens to third but a fielding miscue kept the runner on the move and brought her home to score.

The Golden Eagles broke the game open in the third inning with four runs on four hits and a key error. After two runners reached base with two outs, a throwing error allowed those runs to score and continue a big inning. Following the miscue, back-to-back singles by Haeli Bryson and Sydney Love-Baker gave Tech a 5-1 advantage.

The score remained the same until the top of the sixth inning until Sheffield led off the inning with a walk to set up Kelley for her 17^th home run of the season to cut the deficit down to a two-run margin.

Tech struck right back in the bottom half of the sixth inning by stringing together four hits to score two more runs. Carmen Betts and Beth McCulley each tallied RBI singles in the inning to push the home team's advantage back out to four runs.

UT Martin made one final comeback attempt in the top of the seventh as Neal drew a four-pitch walk before Kallie Pickens moved her to third with a single down the third base line. Clark then came through with a double to left center for her 17^th RBI of the season to make it a 7-4 contest. The Skyhawks would have two shots with a pair of runners in scoring position but could not find the game-tying hit in the top of the seventh, dropping the season finale.