MARTIN, Tenn. – On a day filled with pomp and circumstance as the University of Tennessee at Martin softball team honored its 10 seniors, the veteran-led group came through and left a lasting memory with an 8-0 victory over Ohio Valley Conference foe Morehead State in six innings.
Prior to the game, UT Martin honored its decorated senior class which included Anna Blanton, Avry Blume, Emily Brown, Katie Dreiling, Kaci Fuller, Annie Gutierrez, Anna Hazlewood, Brooklynn Linneman, Maddi Long and Kiersten Nixon for their career achievements. The group responded by combining for eight of the team’s 10 hits and an impressive pitching performance.
The Skyhawks (26-19, 11-10 OVC) picked up their fifth series victory of the season by bookending the three-game slate with victories in Game 1 and Game 3. UT Martin controlled the game in all facets of the game after tallying 10 hits and eight runs offensively while the defense backed an impressive pitching performance which saw Kiersten Nixon (6-4) toss her first career shutout.
UT Martin relied on the right arm of Nixon who toed the rubber after all the pregame Senior Day festivities. Nixon was dominant in the circle where she struck out a career-high 12 batters while allowing just one hit in six innings.
On the offensive side of the ball, the Skyhawks had three multi-hit performances in their lineup while seven players got in the hit column overall. Senior Katie Dreiling had one of the best days at the dish where she went 2-for-4 with three RBIs while fellow senior Anna Hazlewood and sophomore Kennedy Brown also posted a pair of base knocks.
The game’s scoring opened up with a run in the first frame. Brown tallied the team’s first hit of the day and then promptly advanced to second base with the team’s first of five stolen bases. With the runner in scoring position, Dreiling laced a single up the middle to score the go-ahead run.
The Skyhawks continued to add on in the second inning as Blume worked a full-count and singled up the middle before swiping second base. Hazlewood then came through with her first hit of the afternoon by stroking a single right back up the middle. Later in the frame, the Skyhawks manufactured two runs as a passed ball resulted in a run-down situation which the squad turned into a pair of runs by Hazlewood and Fuller to break the game open with a 4-0 margin.
The home squad added two runs in the bottom of the fourth as good situational hitting saw Fuller drive in a run on a groundout to the right side before Alli Robinson gave the Skyhawks their sixth run on a sacrifice fly to centerfield.
Needing two runs to enact the mercy-rule for the second time this weekend, the Skyhawks got to work once again in the sixth with two outs. A walk to Fuller, an error off the bat of Brown and a hit by pitch of Robinson loaded the bases for Dreiling who continued her hot afternoon by lacing an opposite field single to left field which scored the pair to secure the 8-0 victory.
UT Martin returns to action on Wednesday, Apr. 24 with a neutral site contest against North Alabama in Lexington, Tenn. First pitch from the Henderson Sportsplex is slated for 5:30 p.m.
