Softball Win Close Games Against Brenau

ATHENS, Tenn.- The softball team returned to their home field on Monday. The team hosted the Brenau University Golden Tigers in an Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) doubleheader. 

Game One:

Brenau scored two runs in the top of the first inning to put the Lady Bulldogs behind early. TWU led by the end of the first inning. Macy Chastain started the offense with a walk and Courtney Sneed followed with a walk. Bailee Phillips put the team on the board with her RBI single scoring Chastain. A passed ball moved each runner a base and Sneed scored on a Kaley Bradley single, tying the game 2-2. Mackenzie Baldwin gave the team the lead with a single up the middle that brought Phillips home from third, making the score 3-2 in favor of the team at the end of the first inning. 

Pitching and defense took king over the next four innings as neither team scored again until the sixth inning. 

In the top of the sixth inning, Brenau scored three runs to move ahead 5-3. Four straight at-bats in the bottom of the sixth helped the Lady Bulldogs overcome the lead. Carlynn Atamaniuk was the first at-bat with a double. Chastain cut the deficit to one when her single brought Atamaniuk home from second. The potential game-winning run came to the plate in the form of Sneed, who hit a triple to tie the game as Chastain scored. Sneed turned potential into reality on Phillips' sacrifice fly, giving the team a 6-5 lead to begin the top of the seventh. The three outs needed to end the game were recorded, and Tennessee Wesleyan won game one 6-5.

Phillips led the offense with two RBIs, including the game-winning RBI. Isabella Jenkins picked up the win in the circle while Phillips was credited with a save.

Game Two:

Like the first game of the doubleheader, the second game also had an exciting finish. Unlike the first game, the first lead belonged to the Lady Bulldogs.

The third inning saw Chastain open with the offensive half with a walk, stealing second to move into scoring position. A ground out got Chastain to third while Taylor Penning's single brought Chastain home for the first lead of the game. Avery Hope made the lead two runs with her double bringing Penning home from first. 

TWU scored two more runs in the fourth inning. Baldwin earned a walk to get to first and was joined on the bases by Caroline Moore, who hit a single. A bunt single by Chastain loaded the bases. Phillips unloaded two of the bases, bringing in two extra runs (Baldwin and Moore) that turned out to be significant by the end of the game and giving the team a 4-0 lead at the end of the fourth inning. 

The significance of those runs came to face in the top of the seventh inning. Brenau scored three runs in the top of the seventh before the third out was recorded and the Lady Bulldogs held on to win 4-3, sweeping the doubleheader.

Along with the game-winning RBIs, Phillips struck out 10 batters in the circle during seven innings of pitching.

Tennessee Wesleyan (10-7, 9-3 AAC) will play a non-conference doubleheader on Thursday. The team will travel to face Oakwood University at 1:00 p.m.