After the longest offseason in program history, the UTM softball team finally returned to the field after a 354-day hiatus with a big statement, sweeping the opening day of the season with wins over Evansville and Alabama A&M at the Black and Gold Tournament.
The Skyhawks (2-0) ratted off 16 hits on the day while boasting a .320 team batting average and driving in 12 runs. While the team’s offense was potent, the pitching staff was equally as impressive on the day limiting their opponents to a .119 batting average and a 0.58 ERA.
Freshman Kaci Fuller posted a big day in her collegiate debut, going 3-for-7 with two triples and six RBIs. Sophomore Kallie Pickens also tallied three hits on the day, going 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles. Second-year freshman Maddi Long posted a breakout performance in Game 2, going 2-for-3 with three RBIs.
Four different pitchers saw action in the twinbill with Skyhawk starters Erin Gallagher (1-0, 1.17 ERA) and Hannah Ridolfi (1-0, 0.00 ERA) picking up victories. Gallagher allowed one run over six innings of work against Evansville while Ridolfi tossed four scoreless innings against Alabama A&M. Both Seeley Layne and Alexis Groet pitched scoreless innings of relief for the Skyhawks.
Game 1: UTM 6, Evansville 1
Evansville jumped out to an early lead in the season-opener for their first run of the season. In really the only difficult frame for Gallagher on the day, she loaded the bases before walking in the early go-ahead run. She would settle down however, pitching five hitless innings for the rest of her appearance.
UTM fought back and found the game’s equalizer in the bottom half of the inning after Fuller picked up her first collegiate base hit after fighting off a nine-pitch at-bat before swiping second base. After later moving over to third base, she would come home to score on an RBI groundout byĀ Paige ClarkĀ to knot the score at 1-1.
The Skyhawks found their first lead of the young season in the bottom of the second inning afterĀ Aalia BivensĀ reach via a hit by pitch and Pickens knocked her first of two doubles to put the pair in scoring position. A fielding error would load the bases for Fuller setting up another Skyhawk first where she capitalized and ripped a triple into the left-field gap to clear the bases and put UTM up 4-1.
The score would remain the same until the Skyhawks put the game out of reach in the bottom of the fourth inning with their final two runs of the contest. Three errors would haunt Evansville in the inning but the Skyhawks would cash in as Fuller and Chelsey Gore both drove in runs in the frame to make it 6-1.
Game 2: UTM 8, Alabama A&M 0 (Five innings)
UTM scored early and often in the first inning against Alabama A&M, putting up seven runs in the top of the first inning ā all of which coming with two outs on the board. After getting the first two outs on four pitches, UTM settled down and feasted on the Bulldogs pitching staff to crank out six hits while capitalizing on three errors.
Clark got the rally started with a double down the right-field line before coming home to score on the following play.Ā Shyanne SheffieldĀ then got the Skyhawks in motion with an infield single before swiping second base and forcing a throwing error to score the game’s second run. An RBI single by Bivens put the Skyhawks up by three before a double by Pickens and a walk byĀ Macey NealĀ set up the next scoring opportunity. With the bases loaded, Long singled down the left-field line to drive in two runners. The big inning was capped off by Fuller’s second triple of the day ā this one to right center ā scoring both Neal and Long to make it a 7-0 contest.
With the final score all but left to be decided, the Skyhawks added one more run in the top of the fifth inning to enact the mercy rule. A two-out triple byĀ Gracie LuskĀ to right field set up Long for her third RBI of the game and gave UTM an 8-0 advantage.
UTM will return to action with matchups against both Alabama A&M (10 a.m.) and Evansville (12:30 p.m.) once again tomorrow, Saturday, Feb. 20.
