Sunday, February 19
Evansville, Ind.
11:30 am
UT Martin
1-3
7
vs
8
Kansas City
3-5
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
UT Martin
2
0
1
0
1
3
0
7
9
1
Kansas City
0
1
0
1
5
0
1
8
6
0
FULLER HAS TWO-HOME RUN GAME AS SKYHAWKS CLOSE OUT EVANSVILLE INVITATIONAL
2/19/2023 8:34:00 PM | Softball
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Junior outfielder Kaci Fuller had a big day with four hits – including a pair of home runs – for the University of Tennessee at Martin softball team on the final day of the Evansville Invitational. Despite the big day offensively, the Skyhawks could not get back in the win column, dropping both contests to Kansas City (8-7) and Green Bay (2-0).
UT Martin (1-4) battled throughout both contests, but its opponents found the game-winning runs in their final offensive at-bats of the day to pull away a pair of victory out of the Skyhawks grasp.
After being named OVC Player of the Week last week, Fuller looked for a chance to repeat after tallying yet another big day. The junior went 4-for-7 on the day while blasting a pair of home runs in the first game of the day against Kansas City. The contest marked the first multi-home run game of the two-time All-OVC recipient's career.
Joining in the action with multiple base hits for the Skyhawks was Annie Gutierrez, Kaitlyn Kelley, Kyrsten Brown and Kallie Pickens. Gutierrez tallied three hits on the day while Kyrsten Brown had two hits and two RBIs. Katie Dreiling and Kelley also notched RBIs in the opener.
Four pitchers saw action in the circle for the Skyhawks with Brooklynn Linneman posting a quality start with six strikeouts and two earned runs in six innings of work. Meanwhile, the trio of Emily Brown, Ashtyn Green and Dreiling pitched two innings each.
Game 4: Kansas City 8, UT Martin 7
UT Martin jumped out to an early lead in its first game of the day as Fuller bashed her first home run of the game with an opposite field shot to left center on the third pitch of the game. The innings continued with Dreiling drawing a four-pitch walk before later coming around to score on a RBI-double by Kelley to give the Skyhawks a 2-0 advantage.
Kansas City cut its deficit in half in the bottom of the second inning when four walks in the inning resulted in a run for the Roos on a free pass awarded to Katherine Karnatz.
The Skyhawks answered back in the top of the third inning when Fuller led off the frame with another solo blast, this one to right field, for her second of the game.
The two teams kept exchanging runs as Kansas City plated another run in the top of the fourth inning on a wild pitch to bring the score to 3-2.
Keeping with a theme of solo home runs, Dreiling launched her first home run of the season in the top of the fifth inning with an opposite field homer to left field.
The game then took a turn in the bottom of the fifth when Kansas City exploded for five runs on three hits. Amelia Fitzgerald drove in two runs on a double before Lauren Parker singled to left field to give the Roos their first lead of the day at 5-4. The following play then saw Kansas City add to their margin as a fielding error led to two unearned runs crossing the plate while giving the squad a three- run advantage.
Facing a deficit for the first time in the contest, UT Martin looked to knot the game back up in the top of the sixth. A pair of hits by Kallie Pickens and Gutierrez set up the frame before Kyrsten Brown drove in the duo with a single up the middle. With a runner still in scoring position, Fuller tallied her third big hit of the contests by ripping a single down the right field line to tie the game at 7-7.
The score would remain the same until the bottom of the seventh inning when Kansas City led off the inning with a two-strike single by Parker to set up Kiki McCrea for a game-winning double.
Game 5: Green Bay 2, UT Martin 0
The second game of the day set up to be a pitcher duel. Linneman had a strong start in the circle, holding the Phoenix hitless for the five innings. During that stretch, the junior newcomer struck out six batters while holding the shutout.
Green Bay finally burst through in the bottom of the sixth inning after stringing together four two-out hits. Back-to-back singles set up Jadin Justman for a scoring opportunity as she stroked a double into left center to score the game's first run. With one run on the board, the Phoenix added a second run on a single up the middle by Samantha Saloun to give the squad a 2-0 advantage.
After scattering five hits over the first six innings, the Skyhawks could not find the offensive firepower down the stretch to tie the game up in the seventh inning, dropping the tightly contested matchup.
UT Martin will return to action next weekend when competing in The Spring Games in Madeira Beach, Fla.
UT Martin (1-4) battled throughout both contests, but its opponents found the game-winning runs in their final offensive at-bats of the day to pull away a pair of victory out of the Skyhawks grasp.
After being named OVC Player of the Week last week, Fuller looked for a chance to repeat after tallying yet another big day. The junior went 4-for-7 on the day while blasting a pair of home runs in the first game of the day against Kansas City. The contest marked the first multi-home run game of the two-time All-OVC recipient's career.
Joining in the action with multiple base hits for the Skyhawks was Annie Gutierrez, Kaitlyn Kelley, Kyrsten Brown and Kallie Pickens. Gutierrez tallied three hits on the day while Kyrsten Brown had two hits and two RBIs. Katie Dreiling and Kelley also notched RBIs in the opener.
Four pitchers saw action in the circle for the Skyhawks with Brooklynn Linneman posting a quality start with six strikeouts and two earned runs in six innings of work. Meanwhile, the trio of Emily Brown, Ashtyn Green and Dreiling pitched two innings each.
Game 4: Kansas City 8, UT Martin 7
UT Martin jumped out to an early lead in its first game of the day as Fuller bashed her first home run of the game with an opposite field shot to left center on the third pitch of the game. The innings continued with Dreiling drawing a four-pitch walk before later coming around to score on a RBI-double by Kelley to give the Skyhawks a 2-0 advantage.
Kansas City cut its deficit in half in the bottom of the second inning when four walks in the inning resulted in a run for the Roos on a free pass awarded to Katherine Karnatz.
The Skyhawks answered back in the top of the third inning when Fuller led off the frame with another solo blast, this one to right field, for her second of the game.
The two teams kept exchanging runs as Kansas City plated another run in the top of the fourth inning on a wild pitch to bring the score to 3-2.
Keeping with a theme of solo home runs, Dreiling launched her first home run of the season in the top of the fifth inning with an opposite field homer to left field.
The game then took a turn in the bottom of the fifth when Kansas City exploded for five runs on three hits. Amelia Fitzgerald drove in two runs on a double before Lauren Parker singled to left field to give the Roos their first lead of the day at 5-4. The following play then saw Kansas City add to their margin as a fielding error led to two unearned runs crossing the plate while giving the squad a three- run advantage.
Facing a deficit for the first time in the contest, UT Martin looked to knot the game back up in the top of the sixth. A pair of hits by Kallie Pickens and Gutierrez set up the frame before Kyrsten Brown drove in the duo with a single up the middle. With a runner still in scoring position, Fuller tallied her third big hit of the contests by ripping a single down the right field line to tie the game at 7-7.
The score would remain the same until the bottom of the seventh inning when Kansas City led off the inning with a two-strike single by Parker to set up Kiki McCrea for a game-winning double.
Game 5: Green Bay 2, UT Martin 0
The second game of the day set up to be a pitcher duel. Linneman had a strong start in the circle, holding the Phoenix hitless for the five innings. During that stretch, the junior newcomer struck out six batters while holding the shutout.
Green Bay finally burst through in the bottom of the sixth inning after stringing together four two-out hits. Back-to-back singles set up Jadin Justman for a scoring opportunity as she stroked a double into left center to score the game's first run. With one run on the board, the Phoenix added a second run on a single up the middle by Samantha Saloun to give the squad a 2-0 advantage.
After scattering five hits over the first six innings, the Skyhawks could not find the offensive firepower down the stretch to tie the game up in the seventh inning, dropping the tightly contested matchup.
UT Martin will return to action next weekend when competing in The Spring Games in Madeira Beach, Fla.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Baneck, Brittany (3-2)
L: Linneman, Brooklynn (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Justman, Jadin 1
RBI: Justman, Jadin 1 ; Saloun, Samantha 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Giese, Tiffany 1 ; Herschbach, Kendal 1
HBP: Heckenlaible, Hailey 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
P
/ Softball
IF
/ Softball
IF/P
/ SoftballOF
/ Softball
P
/ SoftballC
/ SoftballIF
/ Softball
P
/ SoftballIF
/ SoftballSkyhawk Sports Talk - Season 2, Episode 33
Monday, April 21
Skyhawk Sports Talk - Season 2, Episode 30
Thursday, April 10
Skyhawk Sports Talk - Season 2, Episode 27
Thursday, April 10
Skyhawk Sports Talk - Season 2, Episode 24
Thursday, April 10