The Skyhawks dominated and received the win over the No. 2 seed, Southern Illinois University, in game 10 of the softball championship on May 11.
The first inning looked to be a slow start for the Skyhawks where they were unable to attain any runs. However, this did not discourage them from coming out strong in the second inning
Lindsey Feigl hit a double to left-center where she sent Lauren Smith home from first base. The Skyhawks made a big play in the bottom of the second to keep SIUE from scoring. The team made a double play getting Samantha Stanicek out at second base and Rachel Coonrodout at first base.
In the top of the third inning, Kenzi Tate hit the ball over the center field fence giving her the first homerun of the game. Tate also sent Leah Taylor home giving the Skyhawks a 3-0 lead over the Cougars. Casey Vincent hit a single to the right field which sent Mikala Torrence, who was pinch running forDeven Wilson, home from second.
During the bottom of the third, Casey Vincent and the Skyhawks’ defense sent the first three batters for the Cougars back to the bench.
Taylor sent Kayla Wade home from second with a single shot down the left field line during the fourth inning. With Wade’s run, the Skyhawks increased their lead 6-0.
The Skyhawks’ defense would again prove to be strong against SIUE as they kept them from scoring in yet another inning.
Deven Wilson lead off hitting for UTM in the fifth inning with the teams second homerun of the game. The Cougars were able to prevent the Skyhawks from scoring any other runs for the remainder of the game and were unable to score until the bottom of the seventh.
Although the Cougars were able to get on the board, they came up short and were eliminated from the tournament. The final score was 7-1 with UTM recording the win.
The Skyhawks are scheduled to take on No. 3 seed Eastern Kentucky University at 5:30 p.m. The winner of this game will play at 9 a.m. Sunday, May 12.
