Geathers stars for UT
Shalilyah Geathers from East Hamilton had collegiate highs of four hits and four RBIs as Tennessee beat Oklahoma State 14-4 in five innings Friday in Clearwater, Fla., after the 12th-ranked Vols got only two hits in losing 9-0 to James Madison. They now are 5-3.
The Mocs take a 7-0 season record into the second day of the Chattanooga Spring Classic presented by Ruby Falls, but they haven't breezed their way there. On Friday, for instance, they beat two teams from Dayton, Ohio, with a no-out walk-off hit in the bottom of the eighth inning.
UTC edged the Dayton Flyers 1-0 and then finally got past the Wright State Raiders, 4-3, after taking a 3-0 lead in the second inning. Sophomore left-hander Cori Jennings was the winning pitcher each time, with two innings of hitless relief against Dayton and all eight innings with 13 strikeouts against Wright State.
Also in each case, the winning run was scored by a freshman on a hit by a four-year regular, Sam Taylor doubling home Alyssa Coppinger to end the first game and Anyssa Robles plating Jordan Fortel with a shot down the right-field line to provide the second victory.
Fortel had opened the at-bat with a double. She played right field in that game after pitching the first six innings, and allowing two hits, in the first game - when she had UTC's first hit (of three) in the sixth inning.
"After going through their lineup and them seeing (Fortel) three or four times, we brought in Cori because she's our go-to with the changeup," UTC coach Frank Reed said. "It worked out.
"In the first game we had great defense and great pitching, and in the second game we jumped on them early and thought we would push some more runs across. We showed a lot of fight but we can't continue to just hang on. Eventually a one-run game is going to go somebody else's way."
Freshman catcher Amanda Beltran was 2-for-2 with an RBI and sophomore Ashley Conner from Northwest Whitfield was 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored. Fortel was 2-for-4 and Robles was 1-for-2 with two walks, an RBI and a run.
Jennings repeatedly showed mental toughness against the Raiders, who earlier beat IP Fort Wayne 6-4 after the Mastodons also lost to UT-Martin, 6-1. In the second, a walk and an error put two runners on base with no outs, and though an infield single eventually loaded the bases, she struck out three batters and allowed no runs.
A Robles walk began a three-run bottom of the inning, featuring RBI doubles by Conner and Beltran and a sacrifice-fly liner by Katy Richardson.
Wright State had runners on third and second with no outs in the fourth and did get a two-out two-run double by Ashton Salyers, but Jennings didn't let the Raiders tie and stopped another threat the next inning. In the seventh, though, Salyers got hit by a pitch - when Jennings, Beltran and Reed thought she leaned into a third strike - and scored the tying run on a groundout.
Dayton beat UT-Martin 5-4. UTC is scheduled to face UTM at 4 today after taking on Detroit Mercy at 1:30.
' Covenant 4-8, Berea 3-0: On Lookout Mountain, the host Lady Scots improved to 4-0 with the sweep as Kasey Hart went 4-for-6 with two triples, a double, three RBIs and three runs scored. Madison Quirk's ninth-inning sacrifice fly ended the first game, when Joni Johnson pitched a complete game and allowed only two earned runs and her sister Jami drove in two. Shannon Schmitt and Shade Epes each was 2-for-3 in game two, Epes with two stolen bases and two runs scored.
' Berry 15, Sewanee 2: At Berry, the Vikings followed two wins over DePauw by routing the Tigers in five innings. Miranda Townsend and Emily Taylor each was 1-for-2 and scored a run in Sewanee's season opener.