Stephen F. Austin Blanks UT Arlington in Game One of Southland Tournament
LAKE CHARLES, La. ? Stephen F. Austin sophomore Monika Covington pitched a three-hit shutout in game one of the 2009 Southland Conference Softball Tournament advancing the Ladyjacks past UT Arlington, 7-0.
With the win Covington picks up her 19th win of the season to improve to 19-13, and league-leading ninth shutout.
Stephen F. Austin, the defending 2008 tournament champions, picked up their first win of the season over the Mavs after dropping the regular season series, 3-0.
“We knew this was going to be a huge game and we needed to win in a big way. UTA’s got a great team, they took the series from us earlier in the year so it was good to come out and get the early win.” said SFA coach Gay McNutt.
In the bottom of the second inning Stephen F. Austin sophomore Ashley Struchtemeyer singled to right field and freshman Jessica Arana reached base on error giving the Ladyjacks two on with one out. Senior Benet Higgs followed with a double to center field giving the Ladyjacks an early 2-0 lead.
The Ladyjacks’ bats came alive with three homeruns over the next three innings. Stephen F. Austin senior catcher Kim Daley hit a solo shot to left field, her 11th of the season, extending the SFA lead to 3-0 in the bottom of the fourth inning. With two on Struchtemeyer followed with a three-run bomb to left, her ninth of the season, giving the Ladyjacks a 6-0 lead, and junior Briana Bishop hit her team-leading 12th homerun of the season in the bottom of the sixth inning pushing the Ladyjacks lead to a decisive 7-0 win.
Turning six double plays all season the Ladyjacks tied the conference tournament record with their fourth of the game in the top of the fourth inning.
The Ladyjacks advance to play No. 1 seed Texas State in game three at 4 p.m. The Bobcats took two-out-of-three from the Ladyjacks in the regular season.
“Any time you play Texas State you have to be at your best. They’re a great ball club, I’ve got a lot of respect for them, and it should be a good battle” said McNutt.
UT Arlington will play next in game six at 1:30 p.m. on Friday against the loser of today’s 6:30 p.m. matchup.