GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum University softball team continues its South Atlantic Conference grind with a pair of doubleheaders. TU hosts Catawba on Wednesday (Mar. 23) before traveling to Coker on Saturday (Mar. 26).
RECAPPING THE WEEK
Tusculum (16-13, 3-5 SAC) went 3-1 on the week to end a seven-game slide and begin a three-game winning streak. The Pioneers split with nationally-ranked Lincoln Memorial and swept Mars Hill with a pair of 2-0 victories at Red Edmonds Field.
Chloe Freischmidt hit .462 and slugged .923 with six hits, including three doubles and a home run. In the win over LMU, the catcher launched a three-run homer as part of a five-RBI day, tying her career high. Hayley Lazo averaged .455 at the plate with five hits and a triple, scored twice, and was hit by two pitches. Katelynn Hodges was the third Pioneer to hit over .400 (.429) in the four-game span. She had three hits and a double, three walks, and scored three times.
In the circle, Emily Sappington went 1-1 with a save on a 0.98 earned-run average. Across 14.1 innings, the left-hander pitched two complete games, including a shutout, and saved a shutout. Both blankings were against Mars Hill and game one featured a program-best 14 strikeouts as well.
As a team, Tusculum is ranked across the top-50 nationally in sacrifice flies (12th; 11), hit by pitch (21st; 22), sacrifice bunts (26th; 22), triples (29th; 9), fielding percentage (43rd; .967), hits (44th; 228), stolen bases (46th; 45), and triples per game (47th; .31).
Individually, Sappington is fourth in Division II in complete games (13), 16th in strikeouts (111), and 18th in games started (14). Mya Maddox is 14th in hit by pitch (8), and 15th with 20 stolen bases. Kiley Longmire has three sacrifice flies, 22nd nationally. Lazo has been hit by seven pitches, good for 23rd in the country.
LOOKING AHEAD
Catawba (4-16, 0-6 SAC) is in the midst of a 10-game losing spell, dropping its last doubleheader by a combined 30-0 margin. Kary Hales is batting .379 to lead the Catawba Indians with a team-best 25 hits. She had added eight extra base hits, nine runs, seven RBI and a pair of walks. Brittany Ireland has a team-high 13 RBI and four home runs, while Bailey Leonard has drawn 16 walks with four steals. In the circle, Salem Finney has tossed the bulk of innings at 52.1 and has Catawba's lowest ERA (7.57). In 13 appearances and eight starts, she has collected a 2-8 record with 73 hits, 44 earned runs, 43 walks, and 22 strikeouts.
Coker (11-17, 1-5 SAC) is scheduled to host Queens on Thursday before bringing in the Pioneers for a weekend scrum. Chloe Pelham has been the Cobras' dominant force at the plate. The senior is averaging .419 and is slugging .763, totaling 39 hits (21 for extra bases), 23 runs scored, 20 RBI, 10 steals, and seven walks. Kayla Oswell has a team-high 24 RBI and six homers, while Delaney Eaves has drawn 16 walks. Callie Thornton has pitched nearly twice as many innings as her closest teammate with 74.0. In 14 appearances and 13 starts, the freshman is 6-5 with a team-best 3.50 ERA, relenting 37 earned runs, 64 hits, 41 walks, and 46 strikeouts.
Links to live stats and video, when available, for Tusculum University athletic events can be found through tusculumpioneers.com.
