One run away from pulling upset

Johnson City, Tenn. (Mar. 20, 2008) --- The Lady Buffs softball team need just a clutch hit to change the outlook in their double header against NCAA division I opponent East Tennessee State University. The Lady Buffs lost the first game 4-6 and the second 3-4.

Game 1 Milligan 4 ETSU 6

The Lady Buffs scored four runs off of six hits. Laken Stewart (Pennington Gap, Va.) led the way at the plate for the Lady Buffs batting 1-for-3 and collecting two RBIs and a homerun. Leah White (Fall Branch, Tenn.) had two RBIs and a double for the Lady Buffs while going 1-for-3 at the plate. Jessica Russell (New Market, Tenn.) and Mallory Tincher (Jacksonville, Fla.) collected singles for the Lady Buffs.

Sidney Burns (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) started on the mound for the Lady Buffs. Burns allowed six runs with three of them being earned. She only allowed one walk and had five strikeouts for the Lady Buffs. Unfortunately Burns is credited for the loss.

Game 2 Milligan 3 ETSU 4

The second game was a thriller for the Lady Buffs. Had they had one more clutch hit they would have managed to pull an upset, but the just came up short on the sticks. The Lady Buffs fell to ETSU 3-4.

Laken Stewart (Pennington Gap, Va.) had another impressive game at the plate for the Lady Buffs. Stewart went 2-for-2 with one RBI and a double. Jessica Russell (New Market, Tenn.) batted 1-for-1 at the plate. Leah White (Fall Branch, Tenn.) and Sarah Smith (Elizabethton, Tenn.) added base hits for the Lady Buffs.

Sidney Burns (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla ) started off strong for the Lady Buffs. Burns allowed three runs with one of them being earned. She had struck out four batters and gave up five hits. Ryann Musick (Elizabethton, Tenn.) came into the game and pitched great. Musick struck out four batters for the Lady Buffs.

“Playing against an NCAA Division I team was a learning experience and I feel like we were just one clutch hit from winning both of the games,” commented Head Coach Wes Holly. “From this game we were able to see that we need to improve our defense and limit the errors, heading into our conference games.”