CORDOVA, Tenn. — Walters State took the lead in its last at-bat of both games of Saturday's Tennessee Community College Athletic Association road doubleheader against Southwest Tennessee and held off the Lady Saluqis to sweep the set and take the series, three games to one.
The Lady Senators scored the game-winning run on a dropped pop fly in the opener Saturday, capping off a wild 8-7 victory before seeing Emily Whitaker hammer a grand slam in the seventh inning of the finale to give Walters State a come-from-behind 6-5 victory.
With the sweep, the Lady Senators have won nine of their last 10 games to improve to 15-11 overall and 7-3 in TCCAA play, tying them with Volunteer State for second place in the league standings behind 3-1 Chattanooga State.
The losses dropped Southwest to 18-7 on the year and 5-7 in league play.
In the opener, Walters State led 3-2 after one inning and made it 5-2 an inning later before the home team trimmed the margin to 6-4 in the third. The Lady Senators made it 7-4 after four before the Lady Saluqis plated three in the fifth to knot the score at 7.
Walters State left the bases loaded in the final two innings of regulation, while Southwest left three runners in scoring position in those two frames, with neither team scoring and the game going into extra frames. The Lady Senators scored the winning run on a dropped popup to second base, and Delilah Malczewski stranded two runners in the home half to preserve the win.
Malczewski (8-4) grabbed the win after allowing four runs on nine hits in 5 1/3 innings of work. Lauren Brickey pitched in relief in the contest, giving up three runs on two hits in 2 2/3 innings.
Sydney Fox had three hits with a double and drove in three runs in the win, while Sydney Dukes had two hits with a double and two RBIs and Keeley Quillen homered and drove in a pair.
In the nightcap, Malczewski was the winning pitcher once again after coming on in the sixth inning and pitching the final two frames after WSCC trailed the majority of the contest.
The Lady Saluqis led 1-0 after two and 3-0 after three before the Lady Senators plated two runs in the fourth on back-to-back RBI singles from Kallyn Newport and Emma Seagrave. Southwest put a run on the board in the fifth and another in the sixth and eyed a series split by taking a 5-2 lead into the seventh.
It was not to be for the home team however, as Seagrave and Taylor McConnell both were hit by a pitch before Mia Edwardson drew a pinch-hit walk to load the bases. Whitaker followed with a grand slam, putting WSCC on top and the Lady Senators held on for the win.
The Lady Senators will be back on the home diamond next weekend for a four-game TCCAA series against Volunteer State. The series begins with a 2 p.m. doubleheader on Friday before closing with a noon double dip on Saturday.