Contact: C. Scott Shasteen
Sports Information
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sportsinformation@mscc.edu
May 2, 2012
The Motlow Bucks will open the 2012 Tennessee Community College Athletic Association (TCCAA) Tournament when they face Cleveland State on Sunday, May 6 at 12 p.m. eastern at Chattanooga State Community College in Chattanooga. The Lady Bucks will face Dyersburg State Sunday at 4 p.m.
TCCAA/Region VII Tournament Website
TCCAA/Region VII Tournament Brackets
The Bucks (32-24) enter the baseball tournament as the eighth seed, while the Cougars from Cleveland State are the ninth seed. The winner of Sunday's contest will advance to face the top seed Walters State, which is currently ranked 10th in the nation, Monday morning at 10 a.m.
The Lady Bucks (19-26) enter the softball tournament as the seventh seed, while the Lady Eagles from Dyersburg State are the tenth seed. The winner of Sunday's contest will face second seed Volunteer State, ranked 15th in the nation, Monday afternoon at 4 p.m.
The baseball tournament winner will be crowned as the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Region VII champion on Friday afternoon and will advance to play the number-one team from Georgia, with the winner advancing to the NJCAA World Series in Grand Junction, Colorado. The softball tournament winner advances to the National Championship in St. George, Utah.
The Bucks and the Cougars squared off in a three-game series in early April at the Driver Baseball Complex, with Motlow winning the final two games 7-6, 9-8 after Cleveland State came from behind to win the opener 5-3. The game-two win by Motlow also featured a comeback as the Bucks scored six runs in the bottom of the seventh inning.
The Bucks have been a streaky team this season. They opened the year dropping five of their first six games on the road in Alabama, then won nine straight. The trend continued throughout the year, with multiple three and four-game winning and losing streaks. Motlow lost its final four games after winning the previous five.
Sophomore Tyler Murphy has been the hitting star for Motlow and has become one of the nation's premier hitters in both batting average and home runs. Entering the final week of the season, the Phenix City, Alabama slugger led the TCCAA in home runs, batting average, and slugging percentage.
As a team the Bucks have had an outstanding season hitting, with their .331 team batting average ranking fourth in the TCCAA this season. Cleveland State enters the tournament hitting .302 for the season.
Pitching has been another story for both the Bucks and the Cougars this season. Motlow has a team ERA of 5.01, with the Cougars just ahead at 4.94.
The Lady Bucks split their doubleheader with Dyersburg State on April 21 at the softball complex in Moore County, winning the opener 8-0 before dropping game two 14-9. Freshman Roxanne Hillman (11-11) pitched game one and completed one of her five shutouts on the season.
Tullahoma sophomore Meghan Brayton leads the Lady Bucks offensively with a .364 batting average, 15 doubles, and 14 stolen bases. Brayton is one of three Motlow players with three home runs, including Shelby Webb who leads the squad with 24 runs batted in.
All tournament games will be broadcast through a live internet video stream on the Ustream.tv platform. Links to the video stream, tournament brackets, directions to the facilities, and accommodations can be found on the MotlowSports.com web site.
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