Wed, Mar 25, 2009 - [Softball]
LEBANON, Tenn. - The Freed-Hardeman Lady Lions once again got dominating performances in the circle from Britney Caldwell and Tarrah Tucker in a double-header sweep of Cumberland (Tenn.) in FHU's conference opener.
The Lady Lions (14-4, 2-0) took the first game, 3-1, in 11 innings, then followed by scoring runs in four of the first five innings to cruise to a 7-0 win in the second game.
FHU's Britney Caldwell and CU's Alli Donnelly engaged in a pitching duel in the opener with each holding the opposition scoreless through nine innings. Freed-Hardeman finally got on the board in the 10th inning when the game went to international tie-breaker rules on Traci Gibbons' sacrifice fly that brought home Camille Cunningham, who started the inning on second base and was advanced to third on Tucker's sacrifice bunt.
The Lady Bulldogs answered in the bottom half of the inning, with Cassie McKinney scoring from third after Gibbons and the home plate umpire collided following a passed ball.
Freed-Hardeman came back with two runs in the top of the 11th, finally getting to Donnelly with three hits in the inning. After Jill Brock's third sacrifice bunt of the game moved Brittany Steverson to third, Brittany Bradford doubled to left to bring in Steverson. Caldwell followed with a double, and Brittany Yates singled to score Bradford from third.
Caldwell (5-3) then retired the side in the bottom of the inning to end the marathon game. The junior finished the game with a season-high 10 strikeouts.
FHU took little time in getting on the board in the second game, as Yates singled home two runs with two outs in the top of the first. The Lady Lions added a run in the third and three more in the fourth following another two-run single by Yates. Carmen Gulley's two-out single in the top of the fifth gave FHU its seventh and final run of the game.
Those seven runs were more than enough for Tucker (9-1), who tossed her fourth one-hitter of the year to go along with nine strikeouts.
Bradford had a big day at the plate, going 2-for-5 in game one and 3-for-3 in game two. Three of her five hits went for extra bases. Yates totaled five RBI for the day, tying her for the team lead with 14 on the season.
Freed-Hardeman, which jumped up to No. 22 in the NAIA national rankings that were released in the middle of the games, hosts No. 13 Martin Methodist (Tenn.) in a key conference double-header on Saturday at 1:00 PM.
