Lady Buffs split with Maryville

MILLIGAN COLLEGE, TENN. (March 18, 2008) --- The Lady Buffs women's softball opened the double header with Maryville College with strong bats and strong pitching. On the diamond, the Lady Buffs won the first battle 8-0 but lost the second 4-2. The Lady Buffs' record moves to 10-9 after the day and they begin conference games next week.

Game 1

Sidney Burns (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) took the mound for the Lady Buffs for the full seven innings. Burns pitched a two hit shut out, including five strikeouts. Sara Smith (Elizabethton, Tenn.) lead at the plate for the Buffs hitting 3-3 with two RBI's. Leah White (Fall Branch, Tenn.) contributed with two doubles, two RBI's, and going 2-3. Jessica Blevins (Watagua, Tenn.), Laken Stewert (Pennington Gap, Va.), Mallory Tincher (Jacksonville, Fla.), Jesa Russell (New Market, Tenn.), and Holly Napier (Pennington Gap, Va.) all contributed with singles for the game, giving Milligan 11 hits. The Lady Buffs started out with hot bats, collecting seven runs and batting around in the first inning. Milligan continued to scatter hits the rest of the game and played strong, error free defense to maintain the lead.  

Game 2

Ryann Musick (Elizabethton, Tenn.) started the next game for the Lady Buffs and gave two innings of work. Musick faced eight batters, walked one, struck one out, and gave up three hits. Burns came in for the relief and gave up five hits and got three strikeouts. Heather Poindexter (Germanton, N.C.) hit solidly from the plate going 3-4. Blevins followed suit with one home run, one RBI, and a record of 2-4. Burns and Napier each went 2-3 at the plate. The bats were not at hot for the second game but, the Lady Buffs collected eight hits and started to fight back in the final innings.

Head Coach Wes Holly commented, “Overall, the girls played well in the first game, they had hot bats and Sidney [Burns] pitched a great game. They just came out flat for the second game and Maryville wanted the win.”

The Lady Buffs next play East Tennessee State University on Thursday, March 20, at 3 p.m.