SKYHAWK SOFTBALL SWEEPS TSU IN FINAL SERIES OF REGULAR SEASON; CLINCHES THIRD SEED IN OVC SOFTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

Sunday, May 8

Nashville, Tenn.

1 p.m.

UT Martin

31-17, 16-8

Tennessee State

15-38, 6-21

UT Martin

Tennessee State

SKYHAWK SOFTBALL SWEEPS TSU IN FINAL SERIES OF REGULAR SEASON; CLINCHES THIRD SEED IN OVC SOFTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

5/8/2022 7:36:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Stats PDF: Game 48 Stats PDF: Game 49

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The University of Tennessee at Martin softball team went on the road for its final series of the regular season and came away with a sweep of Ohio Valley Conference foe Tennessee State after picking up a pair of victories on Sunday afternoon by final margins of 11-0 and 3-1.

Finishing the regular season with an overall record of 32-17 while going 17-8 in league play, the Skyhawks will enter next week's OVC Softball Championship as the #3 seed and earn an automatic bye into the double elimination portion of the tournament.

In today's action the Skyhawks used a balanced team effort featuring a high-powered offense which scored 14 runs on 26 hits while the pitching staff allowed just one run in the doubleheader. With the offense posting a .406 batting average and the pitching staff recording a 0.54 ERA in 13.0 innings of action, the stage was set for a promising final day of the regular season.

Kallie Pickens led the way for the team by going 7-for-8 at the plate with a double, a triple and three RBIs while scoring two runs. Shyanne Sheffield also posted a big day by tallying four hits while scoring four runs and driving in three runs. Six other Skyhawks tallied multi-hit outings with Katie Dreiling blasting a home run and driving in four RBIs while Kaitlyn Kelley notched three RBIs on the afternoon.

Three pitchers contributed in today's stellar performance in the circle. Erin Gallagher (13-7) picked up the shutout victory in Game 1 after striking out seven and scattering four hits over six innings. Game 2 saw Emily Brown earn the start and strikeout three while allowing one earned run in four innings. Seeley Layne (5-2) picked up the win with three shutout innings of relief, striking out one and allowing just one hit.

Game 48: UT Martin 11, Tennessee State 0 (Six inning)
The Skyhawks jumped out to an early lead with three runs in the top of the first inning of today's doubleheader. Paige Clark led off the game with a single down the left field line before swiping her 93^rd career stolen base to move into scoring position. Then after back-to-back walks to Kaci Fuller and Sheffield loaded the bases for Pickens, the team's leader in RBIs added three more to her season total with a bases-clearing double to left field.

The game remained a three-score margin until the fourth inning when Avry Blume, Maddi Long and Emily Gilstrap opened the frame with three consecutive singles to load the bases. With the bases still juiced, Clark tallied her second hit of the day – lacing a single up the middle – to drive in the team's fourth run. Two batters later, Sheffield added a single to her total to drive in a pair before scoring herself on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Kaitlyn Kelley on the next at bat to give UT Martin a 7-0 advantage.

UT Martin put the finishing touches on a dominating offensive performance with three more runs in the top of the sixth inning. Clark led off the inning by drawing a walk before Fuller reached on a throwing error to move the pair into scoring position. Much like in the fourth, Sheffield tallied a two-run single to push the margin above the eight-run mark while Kelley added her second sacrifice fly of the contest. The Skyhawks added two final runs as Pickens tallied a triple to left field before Katie Dreiling drove a two-run home run for her eighth of the season.

Along with the offensive breakout, Gallagher posted her third shutout of the season after striking out seven in six innings of work.

Game 49: UT Martin 3, Tennessee State 1
The second game of the doubleheader saw the Skyhawks jump out to an early lead behind Kelley's third RBI of the afternoon. UT Martin saw the trio of Sheffield, Pickens and Kelley team up in the top of the first inning to tallying three consecutive singles for an early 1-0 lead.

Tennessee State came back in the bottom half of the inning and found the equalizing run on a RBI double by Peyton Fointno to score Lauren Farias.

The game remained tied at one run apiece until the top of the seventh when the Skyhawks found the winning formula with two runs which proved to be the difference in the contest. Sheffield and Pickens tallied back-to-back singles to open the frame before a fielding error at first resulted in both runners coming around to score the game-winning runs.

With a lead in hand for the first time since the first inning, Layne closed the door with three consecutive groundouts to preserve the 3-1 victory and 11^th win of her career.

UT Martin now moves on to the OVC Softball Championship as the third seed and will play the winner of the Game 1 matchup between sixth seed Tennessee Tech and seventh seed Eastern Illinois on Wednesday, May 11 at 3 p.m.