April 24, 2005

Box Score

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - (Sunday, April 24, 2005) The Redhawks softball team had a disappointing week come to a close on Sunday when they lost both games of a rescheduled doubleheader to Tennessee Tech Sunday afternoon at the Southeast Softball Complex. In game one the Redhawks lost a pitching dual 3-2 in 10 innings before dropping the finale 5-1 to the Golden Eagles.

The Redhawks (22-22, 10-10 OVC)seemed poised to snap their four-game losing streak in game one when Michelle Summers (Glendale, CA/Hoover) led-off the bottom of the first with a solo homerun over the left field fence for the quick 1-0 lead.

For Summers it was her ninth homerun of the year, leaving her just two homeruns shy of the school's single season record of 11 set by Kim Palmer in 1998. The solo shot was also the fourth time this season Summers has led-off with a homerun.

The game quickly turned into a pitchers dual as two of the OVC's best went head-to-head. Freshman Elaine Fisher (St. Peters, MO/Francis Howell North) dualed with Bonnie Bynum as both pitchers kept the opposing batters off balance.

The Golden Eagles (26-26, 10-8 OVC) finally scored on Fisher in the fourth. Ashley Potts led-off with a solo blast to the opposite field to knot the game at one apiece.

The Redhawks got back that run in the bottom of the fifth when Callie Brittan (Valley Park, MO/St. Charles CC) led-off with a walk and came around to score on a Victoria Torrez (Garden Grove, CA/Cypress CC) single to make it 2-1 in favor of the home team.

Tech answered with an unearned run in the sixth to again tie the game.

In the bottom of the seventh the Redhawks had an excellent chance to end the game but were retired by Bynum with the bases loaded to send the game into extra innings.

Both teams remained scoreless in the eighth and ninth innings.

In the tenth the Golden Eagles struck when Potts plated Katie Speiser on a sacrifice fly to give them the 3-2 advantage.

The Redhawks were retired in order in the tenth by Bynum who went the full 10 innings for her 18th win of the season.

Fisher (5-4) was credited with the loss despite the excellent performance. She went nine innings allowing three runs, only one of which was earned.

Summers also added a double to her homer to give her two hits in game one. Torrez and Megan McDonald (Cape Girardeau, MO/Cape Central) each finished with two hits in the game.

In game two the Golden Eagles used their momentum from game one to jump ahead 1-0 in the second inning.

The then added another run in the fifth when Jennifer Markham homered to the opposite field for a 2-0 lead.

The Redhawks manufactured a run in their half of the fifth when Summers singled to center. Torrez doubled and as Summers rounded third on her way home she was interfered with by the Golden Eagles third baseman. The homeplate umpire awarded Summers home on the interference for the Redhawks only run of the game.

Tech scored another run in the sixth and added two more in the seventh for the final margin.

Amy Fahnestock (13-11) received the loss pitching her 17th complete game allowing five runs on seven hits and striking out six.

Sarah Street (8-6) was the winner for the Golden Eagles as she allowed one run on six hits in six innings of work.

Lindsay Pickering (St. Charles, MO/St. Charles West HS) led the Redhawks offensively with a 2-3 performance.

Summers went 1-4 to extend her hitting streak to six games.

The Redhawks will look to break their slump when they travel to Jacksonville, Alabama to face first-place Jacksonville State in a mid-week OVC match-up. The team's will play a doubleheader on Wednesday, April 27 starting at 3:00 p.m. before concluding the series with one game on Wednesday at 3:00 p.m.