April 13 Softball Report
Texas State completes sweep, Central Arkansas takes series win over Sam Houston State, while Nicholls State and McNeese State also claim series victories with wins on Sunday.
April 13 Scores:
At Texas State 2, Northwestern State 0
SAN MARCOS, Texas ? Taylor Hall went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored to lead the offense while Ragan Blake pitched a two-hit shutout as Texas State softball (29-13, 19-2 SLC) completed a series sweep over Northwestern State (8-37, 4-20 SLC) on Sunday.
Texas State also set a season high with six stolen bases in the game, including a double steal in the second that led to the game’s first run. Hall led off the inning with a single up the middle, advancing around to third on a sacrifice and Jill Kloesel’s bunt single with two outs in the inning.
Kloesel broke for second, and Hall ran home as soon as Lady Demon catcher Leslie Johnson threw to second. By the time the ball arrived back home, Hall was safe to give the Bobcats a 1-0 lead.
Northwestern State looked to get the run back in the top of the third when Alex Newton dropped a throw to second on a fielder’s choice, but Blake bounced back with back-to-back strikeouts to leave two runners stranded and preserve the 1-0 lead.
A chance to extend the lead in the fourth came up empty when Cassie Poncik robbed Kristina Tello of an RBI opportunity. Tello came up with runners on first and second and hit a hard grounder to short, but Poncik made a running backhanded grab and beat Allyce Rother to third for a force out. Newton followed with a single to load the bases, but Northwestern State starter Sarah Dornelas got McKenzie Baack to ground out and end the inning.
Texas State did push an insurance run across in the fifth. Leah Boatright led off with a single and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt before Hall delivered another base hit to score Boatright.
Blake (14-8) took care of the rest, retiring the final five batters in order and not allowing a hit after the third inning. She walked two and struck out seven for her sixth shutout of the season and second in her last three starts.
Dornelas (6-19) allowed two runs on nine hits and two walks in six innings of work to take the loss.
The Bobcats now travel to Stephen F. Austin in a battle between the top two teams in the conference standings. The ?Cats and Ladyjacks will play a doubleheader beginning Saturday, Apr. 19, at 1 p.m.
Central Arkansas 5, at Sam Houston State 1
HUNTSVILLE, Texas - For the second straight game, the Central Arkansas softball team received a strong pitching performance, as they won the Southland Conference series at Sam Houston State on Sunday. Junior hurler Kora Behrens (2-8) struck out two and gave up eight hits, en route to a 5-1 victory for the Bears (4-32, 2-18). With the loss, the Bearkats fall to 26-22 overall and 11-10 in SLC play.
UCA took a 1-0 lead in the second when senior Brittany Bearden drove in freshman pinch runner Mady Lombard with a single to center field. Senior shortstop Janae Owens connected on her third home run of the season in the fourth inning to give the Bears a 2-0 advantage.
The Bears tacked on three insurance runs in the fifth on a run-scoring double by sophomore Sarah Garcia and RBI ground balls from Keatha Tollett and Amanda Perrott.
Sam Houston's only run came in the bottom of the seventh when left fielder Kendra Spivey drove in Alex Survant with a hit to center field.
Brandi Crnkovic (12-13) allowed six hits, two earned runs, a walk and struck out four in the loss.
Bearden went 2-for-3 at the plate for the Bears.
UCA will travel to Springfield, Mo. on Wednesday, where they will face Missouri State in a non-conference double-header.
At Nicholls State 2, Stephen F. Austin 1
THIBODAUX, La. ? Nicholls nabbed a 2-1 victory on Sunday behind the bat and arm of sophomore Lacey Gros as she willed the Colonels to the series win over the Lumberjacks.
Gros was playing against her former coach at Southern Miss Gay McNutt who is the current head coach at Stephen F. Austin. Gros, who transferred to Nicholls in the fall of 2006, knocked in what proved to be the game winning run in the bottom of the fourth when she hit a RBI single through the left side that scored sophomore Karla Troxler to make the score 2-1.
The Schriever, La. native also picked up the win in the circle improving to 7-3 on the year by throwing the complete game allowing only four hits and one run. Gros also fanned 11 while throwing a total of 147 pitches.
"We played hard today with poise," said head coach Jenny Parsons. "It is an important series win, and we have to build on this as a team."
Both teams exchanged runs in the first inning with SFA (27-17, 14-6) scoring on sacrifice fly by Jessica Tullos to right field to bring home Monica Hirsch for the early 1-0 lead. Nicholls (25-21, 12-9) fired back with a score in the bottom half of the first with junior Danielle Clayton plating senior Kat Harrell on a squeeze bunt to tie the game.
Harrell led off the inning with a triple to right center.
The score remained knotted up until the fourth when Gros hit a RBI single to make the score 2-1. Neither squad scored for the rest of the game propelling Nicholls to victory.
Leading the Colonels at the plate was Harrell with a 1-for-3 showing that included a run and a triple. Also recording hits were Gros and Clayton with both going 1-for-2 with a RBI.
Picking up the loss was the Lady Jacks’ Monika Covington as she fell to
15-8 on the season. Covington scattered three hits while allowing two runs and striking out nine. Between two games this weekend, Covington accumulated a total of 29 strikeouts.
Nicholls will be back in action against No. 12 LSU in Baton Rouge, La. on Wednesday.
At A&M-Corpus Christi 5, UT Arlington 3
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - Texas A&M-Corpus Christi head coach Jake Schumann picked up his 200th career win as a collegiate head coach as the Islanders came away with a 5-3 victory of Texas-Arlington.
Lauren Peters went 2-for-3 with a double and three runs batted in, including a two-run double in the first. “LP had some huge hits for us today,” Schumann said. “She really came through for us.”
The Mavericks opened the first with a home run by Rebecca Collom, the only earned run Islander starter Margo Hurdt would give up. “Margo pitched really well today,” Schumann said.
The Islanders (17-25, 7-14) answered with four runs in the bottom of the first. Lauren Sanders led off the inning with a walk before Larissa Martin moved her to second with a sacrifice bunt. Stephanie Estrada was hit by a pitch before Kim Connelly singled to left to plate Sanders. Connelly picked up a pair of hits with one RBI.
A&M-Corpus Christi took advantage of a two-out error by Maverick third baseman Whitney Simpson that would have ended the inning. Peters followed with a double, scoring Gonzalez and Connelly.
The Mavericks cut into the Islander lead with two runs in the fifth before A&M-Corpus Christi scored one more in the sixth.
“It’s not about the previous wins that I was fortunate enough to get, it’s about the wins that are to come here at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi,” Schumann said.
The Islanders will be back in action against Southeastern Louisiana for a three-game series starting Saturday.
At McNeese State 3, Southeastern La. 1
LAKE CHARLES, La. - McNeese State's softball team defeated Southeastern La. 3-1 here Sunday in the rubber game of a Southland Conference series to win the overall series 2-1. The teams split a doubleheader Saturday with Southeastern La. winning the series opener 1-0 and the Cowgirls taking game two with a six inning 9-1 win.
With the SLC series win, McNeese improves to 17-30 overall and 10-11 in the SLC and is in eighth place in the league standings with three conference series remaining. The top eight teams at the end of the regular season advance to the Southland Conference Tournament May 8-10 in San Marcos, TX. The loss drops Southeastern La. to 26-16 overall and 13-10 in the SLC.
McNeese State took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first with a lead off walk by Lindsey Langner. Langner advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Liz Morvant then advanced to third on an error and scored on a RBI ground out to second by Jenny Clay. McNeese extended its lead to 2-0 in the third on a double by Clay that scored Langner who singled following a strike out by Tiffany Ritchie.
Southeastern La. scored its run in the sixth on a RBI single by Tamara Ladnier that scored Bailey Zievert who was pinch running for Kelly Lyman.
McNeese got that run back in their bottom half of the inning when Whitney Corbello advanced to first on a walk and advanced to third on a pinch hit double by Katie Shumaker. Corbello scored on a single by Langner.
Langner led the Cowgirls on the day going 2 for 3 with one RBI and scored two runs. Bethany Stefinsky picked up the complete game victory to improve to 4-9 on the year. Stefinsky hurled seven innings and gave up seven hits, struck out seven and walked two.
McNeese will host Louisiana Tech Wednesday in a non-conference doubleheader beginning at 4 p.m.