TROY, Ala. – The University of Tennessee at Martin softball team officially kicked off its 2024 campaign on Friday, picking up a season-opening win against Samford by a final margin of 8-3 before falling to tournament host Troy by a 7-4 decision on the opening day of the Trojan Classic.
The Skyhawks (1-1) came out of the gate hot in the season-opener, tallying five hits in the opening inning to take an early lead and never looked back on their way to the first win of the season against Samford. Then in the second game of the day, UT Martin had three pitchers toe the rubber but could not slow down a high-powered Troy offense as the hosts picked up the victory.
UT Martin’s bats came to play as the squad posted a .345 batting average in the two games while tallying four extra-base hits and nine RBIs. Senior Katie Dreiling paced the Skyhawks with four hits on the day – including a pair of doubles – while driving in three runs. Newcomer Alli Robinson also posted a three-hit day with a pair of RBIs in her Skyhawk debut while Kyrsten Brown, Kaci Fuller, Avry Blume and Anna Hazlewood each recorded a pair of base knocks.
Along with tallying a pair of hits, Hazlewood (1-0) – a Martin native – earned her first win in a Skyhawk uniform after tossing four innings and striking out three batters against Samford. Fellow senior Brooklynn Linneman pitched valiantly in relief – allowing one run in three innings of work – while freshman Lindsay Kline was hit with the loss in her collegiate debut.
Game 1: UT Martin 8, Samford 3
In the season opener, the Skyhawks struck early as Fuller led off the bottom of the first inning with a triple to right field before later coming home to score on a single to right center by Dreiling. UT Martin wasn’t done as the squad loaded the bases with two outs and Robinson tallied her first Skyhawk RBI with a single to put the Skyhawks on top 2-0.
After Samford rattled off three hits which led to a run in the top of the second inning, Fuller scored her second run of the game in the bottom half of the frame. The speedy outfielder reached on a fielder’s choice before quickly stealing second and moving into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt. With the run just 60 feet away, Fuller turned on the jets and scampered home on a passed ball to put the Skyhawks up 3-1.
The visitors on the scoreboard chipped away at the advantage again in the top of the fourth inning to trim the Skyhawk margin down to one run on a single by Sarah Squillace. UT Martin quickly responded as Blume drove in Brown following her second base knock of the game before later coming around to score a run herself as Dreiling laced a double to right field. With the Skyhawks on top by three, Dreiling and Hazlewood switched positions with a back-to-back doubles to take a 6-2 lead.
The fifth inning saw both teams score again as the Bulldogs added their third run of the contest courtesy of a solo home run by Katie Campbell. In the bottom half of the inning, it was the Skyhawks who effectively put the game away as an errant throw on a stolen base by Brown led to Robinson coming home to score on the error. Then two batters later, another defensive miscue allowed Brown to come home to score and give UT Martin its final score of 8-3.
Game 2: Troy 7, UT Martin 4
Troy jumped out to an early lead in Game 2 of the day as a bases loaded walk to Audra Thompson brought the game’s first run home to score. The home team then added to their advantage in the second inning as a single by D’Aun Riggs and a sacrifice fly by Jade Sinness on back-to-back at-bats brought two more runs in to score.
UT Martin did not go away quietly however as it scored its first run of the contest in the top of the third inning as a double to right center from Dreiling brought Blume home to score. The Skyhawks then found the game’s equalizer in the top of the fourth on a single through the right side by Robinson and a laser up the middle by Fuller to tie the score at 3-3.
The tie game was short-lived however as the fourth inning proved to be the difference in the game. Troy scored four runs on four hits in the frame as RBIs by Sinness (two), Taylor McKinney and Thompson pushed the home team’s advantage out to 7-3.
While the Skyhawks brought the potential game-tying run to the plate in the sixth inning, the comeback would not be in the cards, as the squad dropped their first contest of the young season.
UT Martin returns to play two more games in the Trojan Classic on Saturday, Feb. 10. The Skyhawks square off against North Alabama at 9 a.m. before playing a rematch against Troy at 3 p.m. on ESPN+.
