2009 OVC Tournament
T E N N E S S E E T E C H 1 , U T MA R T I N 0 For the second time in two weeks, Tennessee Tech freshman Holly Thomas has pitched a complete-game, 1-0 shutout over UT Martin. This time, the clutch victory came Thursday in the first round of the 2009 Ohio Valley Conference Tournament at Jacksonville State, allowing coach Tory Acheson’s team to advance into the winner’s bracket later in the day. The fifth-seeded Golden Eagles (25-29) will challenge top-seeded JSU. Thomas (14-15), who was named Wednesday night to the OVC All-Newcomer Team, limited the Skyhawks to six hits over seven innings. She walked two and struck out two. UTM starter Kara Harper (16-8) took the loss, going all seven innings and allowing just one unearned run on nine hits. She walked one Golden Eagle and struck out three. Seven of the nine hitters in Tech’s lineup had hits in the game, but the Golden Eagles could only scratch up one run, that coming in the top of the fifth. Thomas led off the inning with a single, but was erased at second when Cassidy Skeen hit into a fielder’s choice. With two outs, all-OVC sophomore Lacie Coquerille delivered a single to center to put two runners aboard,
and Kaleigh Gates reached on a fielding error to load the bases. Sophomore Callie Schmidt singled to the left side, scoring Skeen for the 1-0 lead, and Thomas made it stick. The Skyhawks threatened in their half of the fifth with a single, wild pitch and walk, but Thomas got a fly out to end the inning. Each team left two runners aboard in the sixth inning. Harper left runners on the corners with a groundout in the top of the frame, then Thomas coaxed an inning-end groundout to strand Skyhawks at first and second after the Skyhawks rallied with back-to-back, one-out singles. After Tech went 1-2-3 in the top of the seventh, Thomas got two ground ball outs to open the bottom of the inning. A walk put the tying run on base, but a pop up to second base ended the contest. The Skyhawks (33-21) had also threatened with a couple of hits in the second inning, putting runners on first and second with nobody out. A fly out was followed by a double-play grounder back to Thomas to end it. Sophomores Kaleigh Gates and Katie Betry had two hits each for the Golden Eagles.
T E N N E S S E E T E C H 5 , J A C K S O N V I L L E S TAT E 2 Tennessee Tech stunned No. 1 seed Jacksonville State, 5-2, in the final game of the day Thursday at the 2009 Ohio Valley Conference Tournament, sending the Golden Eagles (26-29) into the winner’s bracket final tomorrow against Southeast Missouri at 3 p.m. Tech overcame an early 1-0 deficit against the Gamecocks, using a two-run double from Kaleigh Gates in the fourth to take a 3-1 lead. The Golden Eagles got back-toback home runs from Lacie Coquerille and Gates in the top of the seventh for insurance in beating JSU (38-12) for the first time this season. Starter Maddie Schmissrauter (11-10) got the win, work-
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ing the first four innings and allowing just two hits and one run. Freshman Holly Thomas, who got a win earlier in the day, pitched the final 2.2 innings to earn her first save of the year. The loss went to JSU starter Karla Pittman (15-2), the OVC Pitcher of the Year who was tagged with an “L” for only the second time this season. She yielded three unearned runs and five hits in four innings. Ashley Eliasson worked the final three innings, allowing just two hits, both home runs. The Golden Eagles, the fifth seed in the tourney, meet No. 2 Southeast Missouri Friday, with the winner advancing to the Championship game Saturday. SEMO downed More-
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