The UTM softball team made the southern trek down to play SWAC member Jackson State for a midweek doubleheader, outlasted a lengthy weather delay and left Sports Force Park with a series sweep after scoring 26 runs.
The Skyhawk (13-5) offensive was explosive on Tuesday afternoon with eight different players tallying multiple base hits while posting a team batting average of .422 on the day and slugging .719 as a team. The squad notched 12 extra base hits in the doubleheader – including eight doubles, one triple and three home runs while driving in 25 RBIs.
Sophomore Kaitlyn Kelley continued to bash the ball all over the ballpark, tallying four hits on the afternoon – including a pair of home runs while driving in six RBIs. With her two home runs, Kelley brings her season total to nine. Junior Paige Clark and freshman Kaci Fuller also recorded four hits on the afternoon with Clark tallying one double and four RBIs while Fuller stroked a double and her first career home run. Meanwhile, senior Aalia Bivens paced the team with two doubles on the afternoon.
On the pitching side, freshman Emily Brown (1-1, 1.62 ERA) picked up her first career victory, pitching 2.1 innings of relief in Game 2. Hannah Ridolfi (4-1, 3.72 ERA) earned the win in Game 1, allowing three earned runs in four innings of work.
Game 1: UTM 14, Jackson State 3 (Five innings)
UTM jumped out to an early lead, scoring in the top of the first inning in the opener on a bases-loaded walk drawn by Kallie Pickens to take a 1-0 advantage.
Jackson State would rally to tie the game in the bottom half of the inning on a single by Samiah Huckabee before momentarily taking a two-run advantage in the bottom of the second on a two-run single by Isabel Gusman to make it 3-1.
The Skyhawks cut the lead in half in the top of the third when Kelley launched her first of two home runs in the contests – this one a solo blast.
In the top of the fourth, UTM took control of the contest and never looked back with six runs on five hits. Back-to-back singles by Emily Alexander and Fuller followed by an error, loaded the bases for Kelley which made quick work of the opposing pitcher and parked a grand slam over the wall to erase the deficit and put the Skyhawks on top 6-3. The visitors would not be done as an RBI-double by Gracie Lusk and a suicide squeeze RBI resulted in two more runs crossing the plate to make it an 8-3 contest.
UTM put the game out of reach in the top of the fifth with six more runs. Fuller led off the frame with a double followed by a triple by Gore to plate the inning’s first run. Bivens later brought home Gore from third while Lusk capped off her nice game with a two-run double. Two more runs would score to cap off the contest at 14-3 in five innings.
Game 2: UTM 12, Jackson State 8
Much like in the first game of the afternoon, the Skyhawks would strike first in the opening half-inning as Clark singled to score a pair.
After Alexander tallied her second RBI of the day in the second to give the Skyhawks a three-run advantage, UTM added seven more runs to take a 10-0 lead in the top of the third inning. An RBI single by Kelley tallied her sixth driven-in of the afternoon before back-to-back doubles by Bivens and Clark scored two more runs. The inning later ended with consecutive scoring plays by Neal and Alexander before being punctuated by a two-run home run by Fuller – the first of her career.
Jackson State chipped away with two runs in the bottom half of the innings on back-to-back two-run base hits by Isis Taylor and Zoey Keyes to chase Erin Gallagher from the contest and cut the margin to 10-4.
The home squad would add another run in the fifth inning on a wild pitch before capping their scoring day with three more runs in the bottom of the sixth on a RBI single by Brianna Simms Johnson and a two-run double by Monica Serrano make it a 10-8 game.
Looking for a little breathing room in the final inning, the Skyhawks added two runs on RBIs by freshman Maddi Long and Macey Neal to stretch out the margin and bring the score to its final margin of 12-8.
UTM will return home to host Ohio Valley Conference foe Tennessee State this weekend. The three-game series is tentatively scheduled to begin on Friday, March 19 at 4 p.m. with a doubleheader to follow on Saturday, March 20.
