MARTIN, Tenn. – Eastern Kentucky finished with 28 hits and scored 23 runs in a doubleheader sweep of the Tennessee-Martin Saturday in Martin, Tenn. The Colonels (21-15, 10-7 OVC) snapped a five-game losing streak with a 7-2 game-one victory. EKU beat the Skyhawks (16-22, 4-7 OVC) 16-5 in the second contest.
Eastern Kentucky sophomore catcher Jena Handley went 5-for-8 with four runs and five RBIs in the two games combined.
Chanze Patterson’s two-run single in the second inning of game one gave the Colonels a lead they would never relinquish. Patterson added another two-run single in the seventh inning and finished 2-for-4 with four RBIs.
Freshman Stacye Toups (7-5) went the distance for EKU. She allowed two runs on six hits, walked five and struck out five batters.
Handley went 3-for-3 in game one with an RBI and scored three of Eastern’s seven runs.
In the second game, the teams remained close for five innings. Shyenne Hussey’s single to right field in the first inning staked the visitors to an early 1-0 lead. Handley’s RBI single in the third extended the lead to 2-0. After EKU made it a three-run game in the top of the fourth, UTM closed the gap with a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning.
The Colonels blew the game open in the top of the sixth. Adriel Foxley and Hussey each drove in a run with a double and a single. Handley went yard with two runners on to cap the five-run inning and make it an 8-2 game.
Ashley Benbow capped a three-run sixth inning for the Skyhawks in the bottom of the sixth to draw within three, 8-5.
EKU added eight runs in the seventh, including four off of Hussey’s grand slam over the right-center field fence. The sophomore third baseman went 3-for-4 with six RBIs.
Patterson tied a school record with four runs scored in the second game. Handley was 2-for-5 with a run and four RBIs.
Kalyn Fox (6-3) earned the victory after allowing two runs in three innings of work. Ashton Strode (7-6) gave up 14 hits and 10 runs in six and a third innings for UTM. She walked three and struck out four.
The Colonels and Skyhawks will conclude their three-game series on Sunday with a single game beginning at 2 p.m.
