McNeese State Upsets No. 1 Stephen F. Austin
SAN MARCOS, Texas - McNeese
State junior pitcher Kayla Shepherd held the No. 1 seed Stephen F. Austin to
one run on four hits as the No. 4 Cowgirls upset the regular season
co-champions, 4-1 in game three of the 2010 Southland Conference Softball
Tournament in San Marcos, Texas.
McNeese
picks up its first win against the Ladyjacks in three tournament appearances. Shepherd
lost her first decision against SFA earlier this season 7-0, but rebounded to
pick up her fourth shutout and improve to 9-8 on the year.
McNeese
State sophomore Claire Terracina led off the game with a single to right center
and stole second base to move into scoring position. The next batter, junior
Lindsey Langner drove in Terracina with a single to center field putting
McNeese up 1-0. Junior Molly Guidry laid down a squeeze bunt to score Langner
giving the Cowgirls a 2-0 lead after the top half of the first inning.
Later
in the top of the fourth inning, Terracina drove in her second RBI of the day
scoring freshman Marissa Koetting giving the Cowgirls a 3-0 lead in the fourth
inning.
In
the top of the fifth inning Morvant moved into a first-place tie in the
conference with her 33rd stolen base of the season. Freshman Marissa Koetting followed with a
single to left field scoring Morvant for a 4-0 lead.
Stephen
F. Austin sophomore Amber Price gave the Ladyjacks their first run of the day
with her fourth home run of the season to left field for 4-1 deficit at the end
of the fifth inning.
With
the win McNeese State moves ahead in the winner's bracket and will play the winner
of the game four matchup between tournament host and No. 2 seed Texas State and
the No. 3 seed UT Arlington.
Stephen
F. Austin will now play in game five against No. 6 seed Nicholls in an
elimination game Friday at 11 a.m.
Live
stats as well as streaming video and audio are available on SLC NOW on the
Southland Conference web site at www.southland.org.
POSTGAME QUOTES
McNeese State Head Coach - Natalie Poole
(On today's win)
"I definitely thought that we were going to have to step
up our game pitching wise because they hit us pretty hard when we played them
in the regular season. We felt like all three parts of our game were really
going to have to come together and I think that they did tonight. We felt
confident going in and I'm proud of what we accomplished and of Kayla Sheppard
lasting the whole game.
"We put ourselves here and we're going to have to keep
playing better and better as the tournament goes on and play with more
confidence. We're going to concentrate on ourselves and not be distracted by
everything outside to get what we need done."
McNeese State junior pitcher - Kayla Shepherd
(On today's win)
"I knew going into this game that I wanted to be better
than my last outing. I just thought I had to go out there and throw my best
game and be strong. I knew I had something to protect with the run support,
which was exciting."