Game One Box Score (PDF) | Game Two Box Score (PDF)
 
MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The 39th season for the Kennesaw State softball team (1-1) opened on Friday with a doubleheader split headlined by a 16-5 rout of the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles (1-1).
 
The Owls notched 22 hits across the two contests, including four from Pacy Villa and three from freshman Stacey Deputy.
 
KSU fell to the UT Martin Skyhawks (1-0) 4-1 in game two. It marked only the second all-time victory for UTM against Kennesaw State softball.
GAME ONE (W, 16-5 – Five Innings)
The Owls opened the season swinging – literally. Faith Alexander, Kiera Cooper and Villa combined for nine of KSU's 17 hits in the game. The Owls scored 16 runs without recording a single home run.
Deputy shined in her KSU debut, going 2-for-2 with three runs and three RBI.
She got the scoring started with an RBI single to send Taylor Cates home in the first inning, giving KSU a 1-0 lead.
Cates came up to bat again in the next frame and recorded an RBI single of her own. Later in the inning, singles by Deputy and Kiera Cooper added four more runs to give the Owls a 6-0 lead after two.
After Mary Greg Anderson led off the third with a bunt single, Alexander tripled to bring her home, starting another five-run inning for the Black and Gold. An RBI single from Cooper and two-RBI double from Pacy Villa pushed the Owls out to an 11-0 lead in the middle of the third.
Tennessee Tech scored four in the third and one in the fourth to cut the Kennesaw State lead to 11-5.
Villa came through for the Owls again in the fifth with the bases loaded, scoring Caroline Shumeyko. In the next at-bat, Ty Hardeman tallied the second KSU triple of the game and scored three runs.
A sacrifice bunt from Anderson added another run, giving Kennesaw State a 16-5 lead.
Pitcher Laura Bishop secured the final three outs to give KSU the victory. Starter Melanie Bennett (1-0) pitched 3.0 innings with four strikeouts.
 
GAME ONE NOTES
>> Deputy became only the second true freshman catcher to start in the season opener in the Tripp MacKay era (Cheyanne Sales – 2019)
>> The win gave MacKay his 98th as a head coach, the second-most in program history.
>> Alexander recorded the second three-hit game of her KSU career.
>> Villa's three-hit game was the first of her KSU career.
>> 16 runs marked the most by KSU in a season opener since 2001 (19).
>> The 16-run total for the Owls was the second-most in KSU Division I program history (17 vs. Northern Kentucky – 2014).
 
GAME TWO (L, 1-4)
Cates singled in the first inning with two outs to notch the first KSU hit of game two.
UT Martin scored four runs in the second inning to take an early 4-0 lead.
In the seventh frame, Brinaya Bailey and Deputy recorded back-to-back singles with no outs. Villa scored Deputy on an RBI single to cut the deficit to 4-1, but the Owl rally ended there.
Starter Lindsey Kyte (0-1) pitched 5.0 innings with two strikeouts. She stranded seven UT Martin runners on base Friday night.
 
GAME TWO NOTES
>> Cates has now made 138 consecutive starts and 139 games played.
>> Bella Galloway extended her reached-base streak to 12 games dating back to last season.
>> Villa's hit and reached-base streaks were extended to nine games each.
>> Deputy recorded a hit in each of her first two collegiate games in the doubleheader.
>> Freshman pitcher Kenley Hilleary made her first career appearance for KSU in the sixth inning.
 
ON DECK
The Owls complete their run in the Stinger Classic on Sunday, Feb. 12 at 12:30 p.m. ET against UT Martin and at 5:30 p.m. against Alabama State. KSU's contests scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 11 were canceled due to forecasted inclement weather.

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