Softball picks up three wins against non-ACC schools

The Jackets swept the Furman Paladins during a doubleheader at Glenn Field Wednesday. Tech set school records for most stolen bases in a game and most runs scored and RBIs in a season.

Freshman Whitney Haller hit another pair of homeruns. As of Wednesday Haller is tied for second in the nation with 19 home runs.

“It feels good. I’ve been in a hitting slump lately, and it was nice to hit the ball hard,” Haller said. “Last weekend was unbelievable, and I tried to hit the ball hard and out of the fence. At the same time, I was doing whatever I could to help my team.”

Junior pitcher Sarah Wood threw for nine innings on Wednesday, three innings in the first game and six innings in the second game.

“To throw that many innings is incredible. Sarah Wood did an awesome job,” said Haller, who is a pitcher herself. “The week went well, and our pitching staff is getting better and better. That’s what you want to see as the season progresses. We want to reach a peak going into the post-season. Our major strength for today was stamina.”

Senior Christine Sheridan, who hit 6-7, combined with sophomore Savannah Brown for six of the Jacket RBIs.

“This was a great day for me,” Sheridan said. “I broke up a slump and was trying to keep up my defense and offense. It really boosted up my confidence.”

In the first game Wednesday, sophomores Stephanie Butler and Aileen Morales each blasted a two-run homer, and Haller hit a solo home run. In the fourth inning, Butler hit another two-run home blast.

The game was tied at 5-5 after six innings. The seventh and eighth innings and the top half of the ninth inning all saw no scoring. To start the bottom of the ninth inning, Sheridan was placed on second base, in accordance with the international tie breaker rule. Sheridan scored the game-winning run on a wild pitch. The Jackets earned six runs and eight hits.

“We had problems in the first game, but picked it up in the second one. We’ve been kind of in a rut lately in hitting, pitching and everything else,” Amy Hosier said.

Wednesday’s second game also had an unusual ending. The Jackets dominated the third inning with five runs. Haller, Hull and Brown each had a pair of RBIs as the Jackets held a six-run lead. Haller’s 19th home run came in the fourth inning, giving the Jackets two more runs.

Sheridan responded to a Furmin three-run inning with a double and two runs batted in.

“Today, we really got the bats together,” Sheridan said. “Everyone was kind of in a divot.” Sheridan was hit by a pitch in the sixth inning with bases loaded, allowing for the game-winning run to score.

Haller was amused by the game’s ending. “It was a long game, long day. We all wanted it to end somehow, that was a weird way to end it, but whatever works.” The Jackets won 11-3 with 10 hits in six innings.

On Tuesday, the Jackets defeated the Georgia Southern Eagles at Glenn Field by a score of 8-0. Wood and Lacey Richardson pitched for five combined shut out innings and held the Eagles to only three hits.

“That was a good win for us,” Haller said. “[In] games like that, we can’t take anybody lightly. [We have to] come out here and play our game, and if we do that we can post scores and numbers like that.”

Brown hit her ninth home run of the season.

Morales’s fourth-inning double opened the way for two more runs by the Jackets, who dominated the fourth inning with five runs and four hits. Freshman Blair Shimandle, and sophomores Kristina Hull and Stephanie Butler also drove in runs for Tech.

Hosier labeled Tuesday’s game against Georgia Southern as a “good win.”

“We needed to bring our spirits up after the past games against N.C. State. [Tuesday] brought up our spirits a little bit. We hit the ball well,” Hosier said.

The softball team played a three-game series against ACC rival N.C. State last weekend. On Saturday, the Jackets were defeated by the Wolfpack 9-1. Junior Caitlin Lever, Sheridan and Haller each earned a hit for the Jackets.

“As a team, we really needed to break out hitting during last weekend. ‘See the ball, hit the ball.’ Pitching just needs to keep us in games,” Haller said.

In the fifth inning, Hosier earned her sixth home run. The Jackets came close to scoring again with the bases loaded. However, a force out at home and a double play prevented the Jackets from scoring again.

“We didn’t hit as much we are capable. Plus, we got jammed a lot. We had fundamental and mental issues,” said Haller, who identified the major problem of last weekend as pitching. “We struggled early in the game, but we also needed to pick it up for hitting. So, they both went hand in hand.”

Pitchers Whitney Humphreys and Richardson had a combined three strike outs on Saturday.

Wood only allowed one run on Sunday’s first game. Richardson earned her second save of the season. Brown hit the game-winning two-run homer as the Jackets won 4-3.

Morales’s fourth inning double led to two runs scored, and Brown’s two-run homer increased the Jacket lead to 4-1. Sheridan said that the most significant factor for Sunday’s win was “facing one of their other pitchers. It was a long day and emotional win in the first game.”

After relieving Haller in the sixth inning, Richardson earned a strike out and helped the Jackets ease out of a bases-loaded jam. Richardson also earned the save, as the Jackets won 4-3.

Freshman Blair Shimandle hit a three-run homer and three RBIs during Sunday’s nightcap.

Sheridan said that the team “had to dig deep to get more runs to tie [the second game].”

“When one thing is not going all right it seems to affect other things. It’s hard to identify one thing. For example, when you’re not hitting you tend to do badly on defense, and it all kinda snowballs. We need somebody to step up and be a spark plug and get some key defensive plays and hits. We need to get some wins back,” Sheridan said.

“That was a rough weekend and a low point of a slump. The last game was a heartbreaker. They came back and scored. ACC is a tough conference.”

Haller labeled the series against N.C. State as a “learning weekend.”

“The past weekend didn’t hurt us too bad, but we have to pick it up for the conference series coming up,” Haller said.

The Jackets will play all of next week’s games at Glenn Field. Haller looks forward to playing at home. “It’s nice. Traveling is tiring. We’ve been away for a while. We like playing on our field that we know so well and having our fans come. To have our fan base come here, it’s a game changer.