NASHVILLE – After putting an emphasis on situational hitting, Western’s softball team got a chance to put the practice into a game situation last night.

The Lady Toppers took a break from the Sun Belt Conference schedule to take on Tennessee State in a double header at the Tiger Softball Complex in Nashville last night, beating the Tigers 3-2 in game one and 9-0 in six innings in game two.

Coach Tyra Perry said that the games were important to play.

“I think it’s huge,” Perry said. “We need this time to work on different strategies that we will use during the weekend against those Sun Belt teams. We talked a lot about hitting the ball on the ground and getting our bunts down. A lot of the runs that we had were runs that were executed.”

The Lady Toppers benefited from nine runs on eight hits in game two.

Junior first baseman Lindsey Antone hit a home run in the top of the second inning.

“We’ve been working a lot on our hitting,” Antone said. “We put together what we could in the first game. In the second game we just came out more confident and cleaner at-bats and it worked out for us.”

In game one, Western struck early with a home run by junior right fielder Kelsey McCauley but was unable to keep Tennessee State out of the game. The Lady Toppers would give up two runs before rallying back in the top of the seventh inning.

Western hitters came through in the high pressure situation.

Sophomore center fielder Brittney Perry scored off a hit by junior shortstop Brooke Reed, giving the Lady Toppers a 3-2 lead that they wouldn’t relinquish.

The Lady Topper pitching staff fared just as well, with seniors Ryan Rogge and Jennifer Kempf picking up both wins. Rogge (18-5) threw a complete game with seven hits, two runs, a walk, and four strikeouts. Kempf’s win moved her to 6-7 on the season as she pitched all of the six innings, giving up three hits, no runs, no walks, with five strikeouts.

McCauley said it was good for the Lady Toppers to get away from their normal schedule and play on a Wednesday night.

“It keeps us ready,” McCauley said. “Our approach isn’t any different toward the game, but it keeps us loose and keeps us ready for conference play. It’s better, instead of practice, we see live at-bats. So it’s good for us to stay on top of our game.”

The Lady Toppers will be back on the diamond when they play host to North Texas in a Sun Belt series starting at 1 p.m. Saturday at the WKU Softball Complex.