Eastern junior right fielder Alisha Frederick came up to bat in the bottom of the seventh inning in a 6-6 tie against Tennessee Tech. 

The bases were loaded, there were no outs and Frederick was able to get herself into a 3-1 count. 

She got a hold of the pitch she was looking for and popped it up into center field, driving in junior pinch runner Emily Konkel for a 7-6 walk-off win at Williams Field Sunday afternoon. 

“I knew there were no outs and it was a 3-1 count so they couldn’t throw me a ball.” Frederick said. “I knew they would throw it down the middle and since there were no outs I was just gonna hack at it as hard as I could.” 

The game may have come down to a walk-off in the seventh inning, but it was not as close of a game throughout. 

Five out of the seven runs scored by Eastern came in the third inning, with sophomore left fielder Mo Hance and freshman second baseman Viola Smith driving in two runs individually. 

Smith’s RBI double in the third was the fourth hit of her college career and the first hit she’s had that didn’t go over the fence. Three of her four hits so far have been home runs. 

“I mean, home runs are nice, but it felt just as great to get a double,” Smith said. 

Tennessee tech continued to trail 5-0 until the fifth inning, where the Golden Eagles were able to get three hits, two runs and drew one walk against Eastern senior starting pitcher Bryanna French. 

Senior pitcher Karlie McKenzie came in to relieve French in the fifth inning, where Tennessee Tech was able to get one more run on the board. 

McKenzie struck out three batters in the sixth inning and put herself in a position to close out the game, coming into the seventh inning ahead 6-3.  

With two runners on, two outs and the game on the line, Tennessee Tech senior Ella Bishop drove a pitch to left field for a game tying home run. 

“That obviously did not feel good” McKenzie said. “I knew that I had to stop it there and trust that my offense was gonna have my back. They clearly did.” 

Eastern co-head coach Kristi Paulson was glad her team got the win but thinks they have a lot to learn from a close game like this. 

“It’s good for our players to play under pressure situations and see how they handle it. It’s going to prepare us for later down the road,” Paulson said. “However, we should shut the door on a team like that a bit quicker and not let them back in.” 

 With the win today, Eastern was able to complete a sweep of Tennessee Tech.

Eastern will play again at home on Wednesday where they will match up against the University of Illinois Chicago.  

The game will start at 5 p.m. at Williams Field. 

Aaron Coffin can be reached at 581-2812 or at [email protected].