Phillips' No-Hitter and Grand Slam Help #3 Seed Softball Win AAC Tournament Opener

KINGSPORT, Tenn.- The softball team opened play at the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) Softball Championship Tournament on Tuesday. Tennessee Wesleyan entered the tournament as the No. 3 seed, making their opponent the No. 6 seed, the Columbia College Koalas. The tournament is a double elimination format. The games are being played at the Brickyard Ball Fields in Kingsport, Tenn.

Bailee Phillips had a perfect game going through three innings. In the second inning, the offense of the Lady Bulldogs took the first lead. Phillips started with a single, moving to second on a Kaley Bradley sacrifice bunt. Mackenzie Baldwin brought Phillips to home plate with a double, giving the team a 1-0 lead. 

In the fifth inning, as Phillips contiuned to pitch a no-hitter, the pitcher also aided the offense. Macy Chastain, Courtney Sneed, and pinch-runner Ali Richards, standing in for Emily Higgins, stood on base as Phillips came to the plate. Phillips took a few pitches before blasting a ball over the fence for a grand slam and a 5-0 lead for TWU. The team ended the game in the sixth inning as they forced the run rule to go in effect.

Back-to-back walks got Chastain and Sneed on base in the bottom of the sixth. Taylor Penning hit a single to center field, and moved to second on the unsuccessful throw to home plate that was attempting to stop Chastain, making the score 6-0. A fly out by Higgins turned into a sacrifice fly as Sneed went to home plate from third to move the lead to 7-0. The game came to an end on a ground out by Phillips that brought Penning to home plate from third, making the final score 8-0 in six innings.

Phillips finished with five RBIs with the bat and 10 strikeouts in the circle.

The win moved the Lady Bulldogs (25-11) to the semifinals of the winners' bracket. The team will face the No. 2 seed in the bracket, Johnson University, at 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday.