The Pacer

Issue date: 3/27/07 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski/ UTM Sports Information

After coming so close in game one of the series with Tennessee Tech, the Skyhawks were able to post a 2-1 win over Tennessee Tech and hand the Golden Eagles their first loss in Ohio Valley Conference play.

UTM's Kara Harper tossed seven innings and allowed only two hits to the powerful Tennessee Tech lineup to collect her sixth win of the season. The Skyhawks record improved to 14-18 overall and 2-4 in the OVC. The Golden Eagles fell to 29-11 on the year and 7-1 in conference.

Unlike the first two games of the series, the Skyhawks were able to post an early lead on the Golden Eagles. With a mix of small ball and capitalizing on Golden Eagle mistakes the Skyhawks' Savannah Roberts was able to score the first run of the game in the second inning. Roberts reached on a single to center field and was advanced to second by a Megan Williams sacrifice. Roberts then advanced to third on a wild pitch by Golden Eagle ace Bonnie Bynum. With Roberts at third, Ashley Benbow laid down a hit to the short stop that allowed Roberts to slide into home just under the tag of Tennessee Tech catcher Stephanie Fischer.

Tennessee Tech answered the Skyhawk run in the fourth inning when Katie Speiser led the inning off with a shot down the left field line that just cleared the out field wall and knotted the score at one apiece.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Benbow legged out a triple to center field giving her five on the year to lead the OVC. Greer Long laid down a sacrifice bunt to score Benbow from third and give the Skyhawks a 2-1 lead.

In the seventh inning UTM found itself in a familiar situation; up one run in the last inning with a chance to knock off the conference leader. Faced with the same situation in game one, the Skyhawks watched Tech launch a game tying homerun to left field. On this day though, Harper was able to strike out Beth Boden who leads the OVC in home runs and connected for two during game one Saturday. The win over Tennessee Tech was the first for UTM since an 8-3 win in Cookeville during the 2005 season.

"Kara [Harper] pitched a great game for us, she is becoming one of the most dominate pitchers on our team" said Skyhawk head coach Donley Canary. "Tennessee Tech is a great team that has beaten some of the best teams in the country this year. We were able to come close and hang with them in the first two games and got it done today."

The Skyhawks will step out of conference play Wednesday when they travel for an in-state rivalry game at the University of Memphis. The Skyhawks swept Memphis in Martin last year during the Lady Tigers inaugural season of softball. UTM will make its first appearance in Lady Tigers Stadium at 5 p.m. for the first game of a scheduled double header.

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