Tennessee Tech head coach Torey Acheson said whenever his team needs a big win, junior ace Bonnie Bynum comes through.

And Bynum followed through with what her coach said this weekend, leading the Golden Eagles to a three-game sweep of Eastern at Williams Field.

The series sweep has the Panthers in the midst of a five-game losing streak.

As a result of the losing streak, Austin Peay has moved ahead of them to sixth place in the Ohio Valley Conference.

The Lady Governors won two-of-three at Tennessee State this weekend.

Despite all this, the team is not discouraged, and, as senior third baseman Rachel Karos said, “We played solid and couldn’t ask for more from a team that dominating.”

Dominating is what Bynum was this weekend for Tech (41-13, 18-2 OVC), throwing two complete-game shutouts to boost her record to an OVC-best 24-8.

“She’s a dominating pitcher, but because she doesn’t throw as hard as some of those other dominating pitchers, I think a lot of times, people sometimes don’t take her as seriously,” Acheson said. “She has not had an outing yet this year where her pitching wasn’t good enough for us to win.”

The junior kept Eastern (27-22-1, 9-11) off-balance all weekend, giving up seven hits while striking out 15 in 14 innings of work.

“She’s not the fastest pitcher but she goes hard at you,” said Karos, who was one of the few Eastern players to get a hit off her with a double off the left field fence and a single in the fourth Sunday.

“She’s quicker and hits her spots-gets inside and outside,” added Karos about Bynum.

“If I can’t throw a shutout, I just want to hold to them to a couple runs,” Bynum said. “I know our offense is usually good enough to get us a few runs.”

Kristan Glover delivered for Bynum with a single to center field that gave the Golden Eagles a 2-0 lead in the second inning.

Tech added a run in the fourth inning, with a single by center fielder Jennifer Markham that drove in catcher Danielle Wallace.

“Up 3-0 with Bonnie on the mound, you feel pretty good,” Acheson said.

“I thought we took good steps this weekend and we played more like we should be playing,” said Eastern head coach Kim Schuette, who saw her team lose 3-0 in game one Saturday and lose game two 5-3 in 10 innings Saturday. “We didn’t get as many ground balls and line drives as I would like, but Bynum, well that’s why she has twenty something wins.”

Schuette said a key going into the series facing a strikeout pitcher like Bynum was to put the ball in play. The Panthers couldn’t do it, but Tech did, having numerous hits fall just out of the reach of the Eastern defense.

“There were quite a few bloopers that just landed on the ground away from us, and that did hurt us. We haven’t gotten a blooper in I don’t know how long,” Schuette said.

Schuette, while acknowledging Tech’s bloop hits, said Tech put the bat on the ball, something the Panthers weren’t able to do on a consistent basis.

“True, there was a little bit of luck on their side, but they were putting the ball in play and we weren’t and that’s the big difference,” Schuette said.

Schuette was proud of how her team competed, not something she was quick to say after the team’s doubleheader loss earlier in the week at Southeast Missouri.

“We did our best. (Tech) just beat us,” she said.

Freshman leftfielder Angela Danca makes a diving catch during the second game of Saturdays doubleheader against Tennessee Tech at Williams field. The Panthers were swept during their three game series against the Golden Eagles this apst weekend. (Eric Hi

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