"I thought we came out with a lot of energy and played with a lot of effort in both games today," head coach Amy Tudor opened. "We manufactured enough runs to get two wins today and played solid defense. Our staff threw well today; throwing a lot of strikes and eliminating walks. I felt that all three pitchers that threw had great command of their pitches. I was proud of our entire team's efforts today."
WKU (1-0) vs. Kennesaw State (0-4)
WKU 2, KSU 1
As the home team in the neutral-site contest, the Tops took the field first against Kennesaw State. After the Owls' leadoff hitter recorded a single, Kelsey Aikey and the Hilltopper defense didn't allow another hit for 10 batters and KSU would finish with just four on the day.
WKU struck for both of its runs in the bottom of the fourth as Brylee Hage led things off by reaching on a bunt single before Taylor Sanders reached on a dropped fly ball. From there, TJ Webster dropped one of her three sacrifice bunts on the day to move both teammates into scoring position before Taylor Davis singled to left field, allowing both runners to score.
Kennesaw State tallied its lone run in the top of the fourth on a home run, marking the Owls' first run of the season.
Paige Carter went 2-for-3 at the plate with a pair of doubles. The multi-hit outing was the 30th of her career on The Hill. Davis' two-RBI game was the third multi-RBI effort of her career.
Kelsey Aikey went the distance in the circle, recording seven strikeouts against two walks and one earned run. She allowed just four hits across the 28th complete game of her career.
Behind the plate, Kendall Smith threw out the lone runner attempting to steal in the top of the sixth. She's now caught 29 baserunners attempting to steal during her career.
WKU (2-0) at Chattanooga (0-1)
WKU 8, UTC 0
Scoreless entering the fourth inning against Chattanooga, Smith and Kennedy Sullivan reached base on an error and walk, respectively, before Taylor Sanders connected for a home run to left field on the first pitch of her at bat for a 3-0 Hilltopper lead. Sanders' dinger began a stretch of four-consecutive hits by the Tops as Webster followed with a double before Davis and Jordan Thomas each added base hits. Thomas sent her single to right center, allowing Davis and Webster to score. All nine Hilltopper batters made a plate appearance in the frame.
Smith led off the next inning with a single before moving to second on a sac bunt and third on a flyout before scoring as Sanders reached base on an error, pushing the WKU lead to 6-0.
In the top of the seventh, Smith tallied her second hit of the day when she led off the inning with another single. Three batters later, Sanders returned to the plate where she connected with her second home run of the day – another blast to left field – giving the Red and White an 8-0 advantage.
Sanders 5-RBI game in a career best and marks the third multi-RBI performance of her career.
Davis recorded the 11th multi-hit game of her career as she went 2-for-3 against Chattanooga to go along with a stolen base.
Thomas would finish the games 1-for-1 at the plate with two RBI, two walks and a sacrifice hit.
Shelby Nunn drew the start for WKU in the circle and worked 5.0 scoreless innings of three-hit ball. She would tally three strikeouts and allow zero walks before giving way to Katie Gardner. In the fourth appearance of her career, Gardner worked two scoreless frames while striking out four of the nine Chattanooga batters she faced.
COMING UP
WKU vs. Indiana State (0-0)
Saturday, Feb. 20, 2021 | 9 a.m. CT
Jim Frost Stadium | Chattanooga, Tenn.
WKU vs. Kennesaw State
Saturday, Feb. 20, 2021 | 11:30 a.m. CT
Jim Frost Stadium | Chattanooga, Tenn.
WKU vs. Indiana State
Sunday, Feb. 21, 2021 | 10 a.m. CT
Jim Frost Stadium | Chattanooga, Tenn.
NOTES & RECORDS
- WKU Softball is now 14-8 all-time in season openers. That number improves to 7-1 under Amy Tudor.
- Head Coach Amy Tudor owns a 16-1 record in season-openers across her career. Coach Tudor is in her 17th season as a head coach – eighth on The Hill – this season with a career record of 421-349-2.
- WKU Softball now owns a 2-2 all-time record against Kennesaw State, winning the first-ever meeting in 2012 before falling to the Owls in 2017 and 2019 each by scores of 2-1 before picking up today's victory.
- TJ Webster's three sacrifice hits against Kennesaw State set a new single-game program record.
- The Hilltoppers are now 5-2 all-time against Chattanooga, winning the three most recent meetings with the Mocs. In the most-recent meeting prior to Friday's, WKU downed UTC 12-2 during the 2020 campaign.
- Taylor Sanders' two home run game against Chattanooga marked the second performance of the sort in Sanders' career. Sanders and Jordan Thomas did so last year on Leap Day against IUPUI.
- Katie Gardner's four strikeouts and 2.0 innings pitched were both career highs for the redshirt-freshman.
- WKU is scheduled to face Indiana State four times across the next nine days, with two neutral-site meetings taking place this weekend in Chattanooga. The Tops lead the all-time series against the Sycamores 10-2.
How to Follow the Hilltoppers: For complete information on WKU Softball, follow the team on Twitter at @WKUSoftball, Instagram @WKU_Softball and Facebook /WKUSoftball.
