McNeese State Edges UTSA in Southland Softball Tournament
LAKE CHARLES, La. ? McNeese State senior Bethany Stefinsky recorded 10 strikeouts as the Cowgirls advance edging UTSA 4-3 in the 2009 Southland Conference Softball Tournament.
Stefinsky, a second-team all-conference selection, posted her 10th double-digit strikeout performance of the season adding to her league-leading 278 strikeouts on the season. The Gonzalez, Texas, native needs eight strikeouts to move into first place for the McNeese State single season strikeout record.
McNeese coach Natalie Poole, the 2009 Southland Coach of the Year, wins her first postseason game with the Cowgirls.
“It was a really big day for all of us, we were able to get ourselves in a position to win and we were able to come away with it” said Cowgirls’ Coach Natalie Poole.
McNeese State struck first in the bottom of the third inning as senior Holly Long hit a bloop single to left field scoring sophomore Lindsey Langner. After a walk and a single to load the bases, sophomore Whitney Corbello hit an infield single off UTSA pitcher Emily Humpal’s leg scoring Long and giving the Cowgirls a 2-0 lead.
In the bottom of the fourth inning McNeese junior Liz Morvant reached first on a bunt single over third base and moved into scoring position stealing second, her 12th swipe of the season. After a bunt single by freshman Claire Terracina advanced Morvant to third, Langner bunted scoring Morvant on a squeeze play giving McNeese a 3-0 lead.
UTSA got on the board in the sixth inning as freshman Amber Anderson, a second-team all-conference selection, tied the game 3-3 on a three-run bomb to right field, her sixth of the season.
McNeese regained the lead in the bottom of the sixth inning off two UTSA errors. After a walk by Terracina, Langner singled to first base and advanced to second on a throwing error. Holly Long’s grounder to the shortstop was mishandled for UTSA’s second error of the inning allowing Terracina to score the go-ahead run for a 4-3 win.
With the win McNeese State will face No. 1 seed and conference champion Texas State on Friday at 4 p.m. The Cowgirls took two of three from the Bobcats in the regular season.
UTSA will now play UT Arlington in an elimination game on Friday at 1:30 p.m.