CLEVELAND, Ga. (Mar. 4, 2021) – On Thursday, the Truett McConnell University softball team went face to face in a doubleheader with Middle Georgia State inside the TMU Softball Complex. The Lady Bears clinched game one with a score of 7-3, while game two did not see the same result as TMU fell to a score of 8-6. The Lady Bears are sitting at a record of 6-4, while the Knights rose to a record of 4-8.

GAME ONE 7-3

TMU captured the lead in the bottom of the second inning with a leadoff inside the park homerun in right field from Justine Kennington, while Katherine Kozlowski followed with a single to third and later scored off an Alicia Price single to shallow left-center (2-0). Middle Georgia retaliated in the top of the fourth with two runs of their own to make the score even (2-2).  The bottom of the fifth saw Price score from a Briley Lawson single to second, but once again the Knights tied the game back up in the top of the sixth (3-3).

A Lauren Barrett double to deep left sparked the bottom of the sixth, capable of scoring Kennington to regain the lead (4-3), immediately followed by a Sabrina Pestana Aguiar triple to right, which scored Barrett (5-3). The Lady Bears tallied two more runs in the inning, ultimately clinching the win with a final score of 7-3.

LEADERS

Lawson led the Lady Bears going 2-for-4 at the plate with two RBIs, while Kennington went 2-for-3 with one RBI and two runs. Price went 2-for-2 with a single run and RBI, followed by senior Sara Sullivan who went 1-for-3 with a walk. Individually, Barrett and Pestana Aguiar tallied a hit, run and RBI, while seniors Katherine Kozlowski, Sarah Wills and sophomore Mattie Brooks added a hit of their own.

Senior Bethany Hyde recorded her third win of the season, including six strikeouts, three hits, three runs and four walks.

GAME TWO 6-8

TMU came out hot in the bottom of the first inning, hitting the board first from a perfectly executed squeeze bunt from Brooks, which scored Anna Thomas from third (1-0). Middle Georgia was quick to respond with four runs in the top of the second (1-4), but the bottom saw the Lady Bears grit as they tallied two more runs from a Lawson single to center, scoring Caroline Waters from third and Price from second, leaving the home team one run away from bridging the gap (3-4). The Knights earned four more runs, forcing TMU to work on defense, and it wasn't until the bottom of the seventh that a late rally from the Lady Bears proved not enough as they fell to a score of 6-8.

LEADERS

Thomas led the way going 2-for-5 at the plate with a single run, while Lawson went 2-for-4 with two RBIs. Brooks went 2-for-4 as well with a run and RBI, followed by sophomore Ellie Abner who went 2-for-3 with two RBIs. Kennington and Price individually tallied a hit, walk, run and RBI, while Barrett and Waters had one run apiece.

Senior Karley Hobbs tallied six strikeouts on the day, while allowing only five walks.

UP NEXT

The Lady Bears commence conference play Tuesday, March 9, inside the TMU Softball Complex, where they will go face to face in a doubleheader against Montreat College, with game one at 3:00 p.m. and game two at 5:00 p.m.