Softball drops Game 1 of AAC Tournament to Tennessee Wesleyan

KINGSPORT, Tenn., (April 26, 2023) – The Point University softball team started the AAC conference tournament on Wednesday when they took on #4 Tennessee Wesleyan. The #5 Skyhawks would fall 8-0 in a 5-inning mercy rule.

The Skyhawks would send 3 batters up in the top of the first and all three would open up the game with strike outs. After the disappointing top of the first, the Skyhawks would look to match the Bulldogs pitching efforts. The Skyhawks were not able to match the efforts, as they took three pitchers to get through the first inning. After Mary Michael Burnham was pulled after a run and the bases loaded, Katelyn Jiles would replace Burnham. Jiles wouldn't be able to get anything going in the circle and would be replaced after one out for Zada Smith. The Bulldogs would jump to a 7-0 lead after the first inning.

Zada Smith was a bright spot in the game for the Skyhawks, as she would go 3.2 innings, scattering five hits and only allowing one unearned run. That unearned run would come in the bottom of the fifth inning when the Skyhawks would commit back to back errors to allow the Bulldogs to walk off the opening AAC conference game, 8-0 by way of the mercy rule. The Skyhawks would only collect four hits in the contest. Taylor Knight would get two of the four hits, while both Devon Foster and Brianna Plocharczyk would both collect a hit in the game.

Next Game

The softball team will play the first elimination game tomorrow, Thursday, April 27 at 11:00 A.M. The Skyhawks will take on the Loser of Game 2 on Wednesday, #1 Reinhardt vs. #8 Milligan.