No. 9 Softball Splits Season Opener at Cumberland

Lebanon, Tenn.- The softball team, ranked a program-history-making No. 9 in the NAIA, played their first doubleheader of the 2023 season on Monday. The team went on the road for a doubleheader against Cumberland University.

Game One:

Defense and pitching dominated through the first three innings. Cheyenne Strong had seven strikeouts through the first three innings of the game for TWU. In the fourth inning, each team recorded a run. Courtney Sneed opened the fourth inning with a double to right center and Loryn Sherwood moved her to third with a single. A double down the left field line by Malyssa Jeter scored Sneed to give the team a 1-0 advantage. Cumberland tied the game 1-1 with a run in the bottom of the fourth.

In the fifth inning, the Lady Bulldogs took the lead again. Hallie DeArman opened the inning with a home run, extending the lead to 2-1. Cumberland did not score again and Tennessee Wesleyan added a run to their lead in the seventh. Destiny Painter reached base via an error, moving to second on an Emily Mikkola single. A ground out by the next batter advanced each runner a base and Sherwood brought Painter home with an RBI single, making the final score 3-1.

Strong finished the game with 14 strikeouts in the complete game effort on the mound. Jeter, DeArman, and Sherwood had an RBI in the game.

Game Two:

Similar to the first game, both teams scored in the same inning, this time in the third inning. It did not look like the Lady Bulldogs were going to score in the third inning as the first two batters recorded outs. Painter kept the offense alive with a single up the middle. An error on Mikkola's hit placed Painter on third and Mikkola in scoring position on second. Sneed brought runners in with a double down the left-field line, giving the team a 2-0 advantage at the end of the top half of the third. Cumberland matched the two runs, tying the score 2-2 after the third.

Unfortunately for Tennessee Wesleyan, the opponents scored two runs in the fifth inning to pull ahead 4-2. The tying runs were on base in the sixth inning for the Lady Bulldogs but the team was unable to bring them across home plate as the team went on to fall in the second game 4-2.

Sneed finished with two RBIs in game two while Madison Stott had two strikeouts on the mound.

TWU (1-1) returns to action on Friday against No. 5 Freed-Hardeman University. The road doubleheader is set to begin at 1:00 p.m.