Friday, February 21, 2014

TSU Tigers Welcome Five Teams for Tiger Classic


Live Audio | Tournament Central

NASHVILLE, Tennessee  – The Tigers return from a five day trip to the state of Arizona to host the Tiger Classic. Tennessee State welcomes five teams for the three day event. The first game of the Classic is set for 11:30am and pits Temple vs. Dayton. TSU will take the field on Friday at 6:15pm vs. Youngstown State.

On Saturday the Tigers will face Western Michigan at 1:00pm and Temple at 7:00pm. On the final day, TSU will play 1:30pm versus Dayton, before closing out the Classic with a 3:30pm against Indiana State.

LIVE action can be heard for all TSU games on TSUTigers.com.

Tennessee State finished 2-4 on their trip through Arizona and moved their record to 3-7 on the young season. TSU dropped a 10-3 contest to #5 Arizona State. The Tigers jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the second inning. The three runs matched the total number of runs ASU allowed through their first six games.

At the Hillenbrand Classic, the Tigers split a pair of games with Grand Canyon. The Lopes are in their first year of D-I and came away with a 7-6, nine-inning, win on Friday. The Tigers evened up the series with GCU with a 3-2 win on Saturday.

Alabama, ranked 4th, and Arizona, ranked 22nd, would get the best of the Tigers. Jayna Hanawahine got Tennessee State on the scoreboard against the Wildcats with a solo-home run in the top of the fourth inning. The run was the lone run Arizona would surrender all weekend, including in two matchups with Alabama. The long ball by Hanawahine was also the first extra-base hit the Wildcats have allowed on the season.

TSU closed out the Invitational with a 6-4 win over New Mexico. The win is the first ever against a team from the Mountain West Conference.

Freshman Courtney Gearlds leads the offensive attack for the Tigers with 10 hits in 26 at bats for a .385 batting average. Gearlds is tops on the team with three swipes and has been hit by a pitch four times. Kate Morris (.280) is pacing the Tigers with four doubles and eight RBI. Hanawahine has hit two bombs on the season and has crossed home plate a team high six times.

Shea Morris has been the pitcher of record for all three Tiger wins and sits at 3-3, while Olivia Gamache has been tagged with a 0-3 record. Morris has a 4.32 ERA and has fanned 34 batters in 35.2 innings of work. Gamache has toed the slab for 21.2 innings and has sat down 18, while compiling a 5.17 ERA.

Youngstown State (2-2)
2013 Record: 19-27
Conference: Horizon
2013 Finish: 9-13/6th
Series Record: First Meeting
Last Time Played: N/A
Last Win: N/A

Youngstown State played in the Upstate Classic during the opening weekend where they won their last two games after starting the season 0-2. The Penguins batted .316 as a team scoring 23 runs with five doubles and a pair of home runs. Haley Knight has team highs in average (.500), RBI (5) and on-base-percentage (.600). Knight is tied with Katie Smallcomb and Darcella Blakely with two walks. Miranda Castiglione (.417) joins Knight and Smallcomb (.444) as the three players hitting above .400. In the circle, the YSU staff has amassed a 5.25 ERA with 14 walks and 16 strikeouts in 22.2 innings. Kayla Haslett (1-0, 1.50) has appeared in three games, while Casey Crozier (1-1, 4.90) has started two games; the duo has worked 19 innings.

Western Michigan (3-3)
2013 Record: 16-33
Conference: Mid-American
2013 Finish: 7-13/5th West
Series Record: 1-1
Last Time Played: 2/27/09, W, 8-2
Last Win: 2/27/09, 8-2

The Broncos opened two weeks ago at the Kajikawa Classic, hosted by Arizona State. WMU is batting .260 and is led by Melissa Palmer and Jenny Rohn. Palmer is 9-for-18 (.500) with five runs scored, a double, two RBI and two walks. Rohn is batting .316 (6-19) with four doubles and has crossed home plate three times and has driven in four. Allyson Kus has started four games and has appeared in five throwing 23.1 of the teams 34 innings pitched. Kus is 2-2 with one save and a 5.40 ERA.

Temple (0-0)
2013 Record: 32-26
Conference: American
2013 Finish: 15-7/3rd
Series Record: First Meeting
Last Time Played: N/A
Last Win: N/A

The Owls step on the playing field for the first time since 2013. Last season Temple powered 94 long balls and returns the owners of 81 from a year ago. Stephanie Pasquale and Sarah Prezioso lead the way of five Owls who hit double-digit bombs with 15 apiece. Pasquale led Temple with a .465 average, 21 doubles, and 80 RBI, while fellow senior Prezioso topped the Owls with 65 runs, two doubles and 32 stolen bases. In the circle, Kelsey Dominik and Jessica Mahoney totaled for 263.2 of the 368 innings pitched. Dominik finished 15-8 with a 4.03 ERA, while Mahoney was 9-10 with a save and a 5.39 ERA.

Dayton (0-5)
2013 Record: 22-24
Conference: Atlantic 10
2013 Finish: 12-9/6th
Series Record: 1-2
Last Time Played: 2/24/08, L 1-8
Last Win: 2/23/08, 6-5

Dayton opened 0-5 two weeks ago at the UC Santa Barbara Gaucho Classic where they fell to the host squad before dropping a pair of games to each, #11 Texas A&M and CSU Bakersfield. Gabrielle Snyder led the Flyers at the plate and in the circle. The freshman was 7-for-15 at the plate for a .467 batting average and finished the weekend 0-1 with a 2.10 ERA in 13.1 innings of work. Jordan Jennings batted .438 with three doubles to add to Dayton’s offensive production. Tiffany Ricks picked up four RBI off two doubles and a home run, while batting .389.

Indiana State (1-3)
2013 Record: 16-34
Conference: Missouri Valley
2013 Finish: 5-19/10th
Series Record: 1-5
Last Time Played: 2/17/12, L, 6-9
Last Win: 2/24/01, 2-0

The Sycamores opened the season at the Cyclone Invitational during the first week of the season and won their opener over South Dakota State. ISU lost the final three games of the tournament by a combined five runs. Despite the 1-3 record, Indiana State is averaging 5.6 runs per game is batting .336 as a team. Erika Crissman is leading a group of eight Sycamores who are batting .300 or better. Crissman is hitting .571 in three games and is followed by Morgan Allee (.500) who is 6-fo-12 with three doubles and four runs scored. Yvette Alvarez picked up the lone win and is 1-1 with a 4.28 ERA in 18.0 innings in the circle.

COURTESY TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

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