Softball Wins Second Consecutive AAC Tournament

Kingsport, Tenn.- The softball team, the No. 4 seed in the Appalachian Athletic Conference Tournament, was back in action in the semifinals of the tournament on Saturday. The weather the previous day had forced the schedule to change, forcing the Lady Bulldogs to potentially play up to three times in the day depending on how the results shook out. The team started the day against the No. 3 seed, the Brenau University Golden Tigers. 

 Three scoreless innings led to a fourth inning that saw five runs scored. Taylor Penning began the inning with a single to center and was joined on the bases by Courtney Sneed via a hit by pitch. Each runner moved a base on Malyssa Jeter's sacrifice bunt before scoring on Loryn Sherwood's double, giving the team a 2-0 lead. A single by Mackenzie Baldwin scored Sherwood to give the Lady Bulldogs a 3-0 advantage. The remaining two runs in the fourth inning were scored by Brenau.  

For the remainder of the game, Brenau did not get past second base for the remainder of the game, and TWU advanced to the championship game as the winner's bracket winner with a 3-2 win. 

Sherwood led the offense with two RBIs in the game. Cheyenne Strong had five strikeouts in the complete game effort in the circle. 

The schedule going into the day had the championship game set to be played at 9:00 p.m., Saturday evening. The championship game started shortly after 10:30 p.m., and the No. 1 seed Reinhardt University was the team's opponent in the game. Due to going through the beginning of the tournament unscathed, TWU had to be beaten twice to not win the championship. 

A rough start occurred in the first inning for the Lady Bulldogs as Reinhardt scored the first two runs of the game. The team was able to dig out of the hole quickly though. 

Sneed got on base with a single down the left-field line and advanced to second on a fielding error. Jeter tied the game with a two-run blast over the left field fence to equalize the score at two runs apiece. 

The lead changed in the fourth inning. Sneed got on second base again, this time through a double. Jeter joined the band of base runners with a single, moving Sneed to third. Sherwood hit a single to right field, breaking the tie as Sneed scored. A sacrifice bunt by Hallie DeArman moved pinch-runner Gracee Roberts and Sherwood up a base and a ground out by Baldwin brought Roberts off bases as she crossed home plate to make the score 4-2. Caroline Moore hit a double to give the team a 5-2 lead with Sherwood reaching home plate.  

The opponents tried to come back, scoring two runs in the fifth inning. Tennessee Wesleyan had other plans though, not allowing another run in the game to make them the winners of the game 5-4, and give them their second consecutive AAC Tournament Title. 

Jeter led the offense with a home run and two RBIs. Moore, Sherwood, and Baldwin each had an RBI. Strong finished with seven strikeouts in the circle.  

Strong was named the Tournament MVP after going 4-0 in the tournament while striking out 35 batters in 26 innings pitched. Strong only allowed five earned runs to give her a 1.35 earned-run average and surrendered two walks. Joining Strong on the All-Tournament Team were Mikkola, Sherwood, and Jeter. 

With the win, the Lady Bulldogs (27-15) automatically qualify for the NAIA Opening Round set for May 15-17. TWU will find out the location of their Opening Round site and bracket on Tuesday, May 9.