On Sept. 22, the Bucs faced off against Milligan College at home for one of their many fall games.
The Bucs were coming off two hot-hitting games, defeating Montreat College with a score of 12-5 and Appalachian State with a score of 7-1.
Junior Madison Ogle (Maryville, Tenn.) got the start at pitcher for the Bucs in the first three innings. She had very good control, hitting her spots inside and out and retiring Milligan batters.
The Bucs were able to get on the scoreboard first when Kelsey Smith (Tucson, Arizona) hit a home run over center field to give the Buccaneers a 1-0 lead into the fourth inning.
In the fifth inning, leading 1-0, the Buccaneers made a pitching change, bringing in freshman pitcher Kelly Schmidt (Norcross, Ga).
Schmidt struck out her two batters and forced a fly ball in her first inning to keep the Bucs ahead at 1-0.
On offense in the fifth inning freshman, Quinn Giesick (Bakersfield, Ca.) hit a double, sending the ball to the left field wall.
That set up Junior Kelsey Chernak (Ooltewah, Tenn.) to hit a double, knocking Giesick in and giving the Buccaneers a 2-0 lead heading into the sixth inning.
After solid play on defense, the Bucs had two players on base at the bottom of the sixth inning.
Junior Kelsey Smith once again knocked another home run over center field to extend the Buccaneer lead to 5-0 heading into the top of the seventh inning.
Freshman pitcher Kelly Schmidt continued her dominance, only allowing one hit in the seventh inning and accomplishing four strikeouts.
In the bottom of the seventh with two outs and three runners on base, the Buccaneers weren’t able to score, grounding out to third base. The Bucs won 5-0 with freshman Kelly Schmidt finishing the game.
The experience the Bucs are getting in these fall games will help them when the springgames roll around.
