Tech softball starts RSC Tournament play Thursday
May 6—WVU Tech will be the No. 3 seed in the East Division in the River States Conference Tournament starting today at Jackson Memorial Park in Vienna.
The Golden Bears will play West No. 2 Midway at 6 p.m. in the double-elimination tournament. If Tech wins, it would play regular season champion Rio Grande Friday at 10 a.m. A loss to Midway would send the Golden Bears to the losers bracket to face the loser of Carlow and Asbury Friday at noon.
The championship will be decided Saturday at 1 p.m., with the if-necessary game following 30 minutes after completion.
Tech (19-21, 13-13 RSC) won its last three games of the regular season, including a doubleheader sweep of Point Park in Sunday's finale.
Senior third baseman Kay'lee Justice leads Tech with a .390 batting average and an OPS of 1.005 and has hit 10 doubles. Sophomore Mackenzie Siersma leads the team with three home runs and 19 runs batted in. Gabby Pyles, a freshman from Greenbrier East, is hitting .321 with 16 RBIs and a team-leading 11 doubles.
Savannah Bragg, a sophomore from Independence, hit her first college home run in last Saturday's 6-3 win over Carlow. Fellow Independence graduate Nicole Kester has stolen 16 bases and has been caught just three times.
Sophomore pitcher Courtney Miles (7-8) leads Tech with a 2.98 ERA and 96 strikeouts in 105 2/3 innings.
Miles pitched in both games of a doubleheader against Midway April 9 in Beckley. She started and went the distance in the opener, allowing five hits and an unearned run while striking out eight and walking one in a 7-1 victory. She worked the final 3 2/3 innings of the nightcap and was not involved in the decision, a 9-7 win for the Eagles.
Taylor Dickerson, a junior from Midland Trail, has made 17 appearances for the Golden Bears and is 7-7 with a 3.46 earned run average. Her best outing came March 10 when she held Pikeville to three hits while striking out 10 in a complete-game 2-0 victory.
Midway (22-30, 13-11) has one of the top fielding teams in the nation, led by Carson Flynn. The sophomore center fielder has not committed an error in 124 chances.
Flynn also leads the Eagles with a .380 batting average, 70 hits, four triples and a conference-best 22 stolen bases in 26 attempts.
The tournament winner will receive a bid to the NAIA National Tournament starting May 17-19 at campus sites. Each winner will advance to the next round starting May 27 in Columbus, Ga.
Email: gfauber@register-herald.com
