Blue Raider Softball Brings the Fire to Tennessee Southern in Rare Three-Game Sweep

PULASKI, Tenn. – At Royce Hughes Field, the Lindsey Wilson softball team cruised to a three-game sweep over the University of Tennessee Southern. The emphatic romp of the home side improves the Blue Raiders' active win-streak to four games and pushes them back above 0.500 in conference-play.

The visitors were in dominant form throughout the day, finishing with 25 total runs on 31 hits to outscore the Firehawks by 17. Monday's third contest highlighted the afternoon, as the locals erupted for a season-high 15 runs to help cap off the trifecta.

Not only was Lindsey Wilson scintillating from the plate, but the Blue Raiders also caught fire in the circle thanks to outstanding performances from Abigail Cruz, Grace Adams, Savannah Robbins, and Olivia Franceschi. The quartet limited Tennessee Southern to a 0.152 team-batting average, which is the lowest by a Blue Raider opponent this season.

Game One | Lindsey Wilson 3, Tennessee Southern 0

Cruz put the Blue Raiders on the right track to start their Monday, firing a complete-game, one-hit shutout for her sixth victory of the year. The sophomore allowed one Firehawk baserunner in the first inning off a reach-by-error but then buckled down to retire the next 17 batters she faced to carry a no-hit bid into the final inning.

Despite ultimately losing that bid with her only hit surrendered in the seventh frame, Cruz closed her outing with a career-high seven strikeouts and just one walk.

Meanwhile, on offense, Lindsey Wilson found its first run in exciting fashion when a misplayed single by Desiree Chang lit the green light for the senior to switch on the afterburners and dash all the way around the diamond, and give the Blue Raiders a 1-0 lead.

Then, later in the same inning, a bases-loaded walk to Elizabeth Funk plated Za'Kiya Sizemore to double the cushion after three.

The final Blue Raider run came off a sacrifice fly by Cheyenne Sandoval in the seventh inning, scoring pinch-runner Natalie Shaw. That was all Cruz and the defense needed to clinch the series-opening win soon after.

Game Two | Lindsey Wilson 7, Tennessee Southern 2

The Blue Raiders started to pick up the pace in the middle game, even after falling behind halfway through.

Amanda Schick got the ball rolling with an RBI-single to left field in the top leg of the third frame, but the Firehawks responded quickly with one run in each of their next two plate appearances.

Trailing 2-1, Lindsey Wilson hit the ground running in the fifth inning with a lead-off double by Jones and a subsequent hit-by-pitch to Schick to put two runners aboard for Funk, who delivered with a one-out single to the grass to bring home Jones and tie the game.

Back-to-back hits by Kelsie Bostock and Brooklynn Ott only deepened the cut of the host's defense. First, Bostock doubled in Schick and Funk with a deep shot to the fence, then Ott joined in to score her catcher off a shallow single.

The Blue Raiders, again, went on to strike for some insurance in their half of the seventh inning. This time, Brylee Pickerell and Chang hooked up for consecutive RBI-hits to bring the score to its final.

Adams got the start on the rubber for Lindsey Wilson and went three complete innings while allowing two earned runs on two hits. Reliever Robbins checked into in the game in the fourth inning and was credited with the win after going the rest of the way and giving up zero runs on two hits and striking out three.

Game Three | Lindsey Wilson 15, Tennessee Southern 6 (5 Innings)

An explosive second inning was the difference for the locals in the finale, as three different Blue Raiders contributed three or more RBIs to put away the 'Hawks in five.

One of those offensive suppliers was Sandoval, who opened the scoring in the first inning with a bases-clearing double to left field, but that was just the spark. The real fire fanned in the following frame.

With six hits, the locals stamped nine runs on the board. Jones, Garayzar, and Sandoval each muscled in two tallies during the barrage on a pair of patient walks and a couple of timely hits. The remaining three runs came off the bats of Schick, Sandoval, and Ott to propel Lindsey Wilson in front, 12-0. It is the most runs scored by the locals in a single inning since April 16, 2022

After Tennessee Southern watered down the flames to cut into the Blue Raiders' lead, the road team tossed one final log on the fire in the fourth.

Jones was heard from first with her career-high third hit of the game to plate her third run of the game. The freshman was then swiftly brought home by a two-out bomb to straight-away center by Garayzar, her fourth of the season.

The Blue Raider defense had to fight off the 'Hawks briefly in the bottom of the fifth but held on to end the game early.

Franceschi picked up her 11th career victory with a three-hit effort to start before Robbins closed out the day.

Lindsey Wilson is slated to return home this weekend to host No. 14 Freed-Hardeman University. The first game of the three-game series is set for Friday, April 14 at 3 p.m.