ST. CHARLES, Mo. – The University of Tennessee at Martin softball team went on the road and claimed its sixth series victory of the season to move up the Ohio Valley Conference standings after knocking off Lindenwood in the series finale with a 5-1 decision.
The Skyhawks (28-20, 13-11 OVC) tallied eight hits in the victory while scraping across five runs as the team never trailed in the contest. On the pitching side, UT Martin struck out just one batter but scattered four hits and allowed one unearned run.
With a veteran group leading the way, Skyhawk seniors Kaci Fuller and Maddi Long paced the team with two-hit performances. Along with her two base knocks, Long joined fellow senior Katie Dreiling by driving in a pair of runs in the victory.
The pitching staff was headlined by senior Kiersten Nixon who tallied her seventh win of the season after allowing zero earned runs in five frames. She was relieved by Dreiling gave up just one base knock and issued no walks in two scoreless innings.
UT Martin wasted no time jumping on the board with two runs in the top of the first inning. Back-to-back hits by Kennedy Brown and Avry Blume sent up the scoring chance before Long laced a two-run double into the left-center gap to give the visitors an early advantage.
The score remained the same until Lindenwood got in the run column in the bottom of the fourth. A dropped foul ball error came around to hurt the Skyhawks as the play was followed by a hit by pitch and a double by Tori Hatton to cut the home team’s deficit in half.
After the defensive miscue led to a run in the fourth, the Skyhawks answered right back in the top of the fifth. A single by Fuller kicked off the frame before later trotting around the bases as Dreiling drilled a two-run home run to right field to make it a 4-1 contest.
The Skyhawks added one more run in the top of the sixth for some insurance as Alli Robinson walked before being replaced by pinch runner Kyla Harley. The speedy freshman wasted very little time before swiping second base to move into scoring position and ultimately coming home to score on an RBI-groundout by Fuller to record the game’s final run.
UT Martin will close out the regular season next weekend and put the final touches on its postseason résumé when playing host to OVC rival Southeast Missouri for a three-game series beginning on Saturday, May 4.
