Stephen F. Austin Wins Share of Southland Conference Title

Stephen F. Austin Wins Share of Southland Conference Title

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Stephen F. Austin 3, Texas State 1 (9 innings)
Stephen F. Austin 4, Texas State 3 (8 innings)
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - The Stephen F. Austin Ladyjack softball team got walk-off home runs in consecutive games Saturday to earn a doubleheader sweep in the opener of its series with Texas State. The two wins locked up at least a share of the Ladyjacks' first-ever Southland Conference championship and the No. 1 seed at next week's Southland Tournament in San Marcos.

SFA trailed in both games but rallied to push the contests to extra innings. The Ladyjacks won the opener on a two-run bomb by Kendal Harper with two down in the bottom of the ninth, then got a leadoff blast from Briana Bishop in the bottom of the eighth to complete the sweep.

With the victories, SFA improves to 28-17 on the year with a 20-9 record in Southland play. Texas State falls to 24-24 overall and 19-10 in league action. A win in Sunday's series finale would give the Ladyjacks claim to an outright conference title, while the Bobcats would secure a share of their third straight league championship if they can avoid the sweep.

Texas State starter Chandler Hall pitched five-and-a-third innings of no-hit ball in the opener, but SFA exploded for eight base knocks - including two home runs - over the final four innings to take a 3-1 verdict.

Jenna Emery put up the first run of the game when she homered off SFA starter Monika Covington on an 0-2 count with two down in the top of the seventh.

The Ladyjacks answered in the bottom half. After Kayla Gutowski led off with a fly ball that took Texas State right fielder Leah Boatright to the warning track, Ashley Struchtemeyer blasted a one-out homer to right-center to tie the score.

SFA would go on to load the bases on back-to-back singles by Brittany Caruthers and Karissa Jones, followed by a hit batsman. But Hall got a strikeout and a foul pop to send the game to extra innings.

Covington held the Bobcats scoreless on one hit in the eighth and ninth. Gutowski and Struchtemeyer put up back-to-back singles with two out in the SFA half of the eighth, but Hall again escaped harm with a strikeout.

Then, in the ninth, Bethany Brown got her first hit of the day - a single up the middle - to extend the inning and bring Harper to the plate. The senior center fielder lifted Hall's 3-2 offering way over the wall in right-center to end the game. It was her fifth home run of the year.

Harper went 2-for-5 with two RBI to lead SFA at the plate in the opener. Struchtemeyer was 2-for-4, and Brown, Gutowski, Caruthers and Jones each hit safely once.

Covington scattered five hits over nine innings to improve to 14-9 on the season. She didn't issue a walk and struck out seven.

The Bobcats took advantage of a few SFA miscues to take a 3-0 lead early in the second game, but the Ladyjacks tied the score in the sixth, then took home the sweep with a 4-3 victory after Bishop's blast to start the eighth.

Texas State put up a run in the top of the first when a passed ball and a wild pitch in the same at-bat allowed Anna Hernandez to move from second to third and then score.

SFA went quietly in the bottom half and neither team scratched in the second inning, but Texas State got back on the scoreboard with a pair of two-out runs in the third. McKenzie Baack reached on a fielder's choice for the second out of the inning, then took second on a passed ball. She would score when Jenna Emery singled to left. Emery took an extra base on the throw home, then Boatright got a base knock back up the middle to score Emery, giving the Bobcats a 3-0 edge.

SFA got two of the runs back in the bottom half. Jessica Arana got a single to left, then Gutowski drew a walk to put two on base with two out for Struchtemeyer. The junior second baseman came through in the clutch again, this time doubling to the gap in left-center to score two runs.

Ladyjack starter Angela White held the Bobcats scoreless on a pair of hits over the next three frames, then SFA tied the score in the bottom of the sixth. Struchtemeyer got a one-out single to start things off. Then Caruthers just missed a homer when she crushed a single off the top of the wall in right-center, moving Struchtemeyer to third. The next batter, Jones, lifted a sacrifice fly to left-center that was deep enough to plate Struchtemeyer, tying the score.

White retired the Bobcats in order in both the seventh and the eighth innings. The Ladyjacks also went down quietly in the seventh, but Bishop squared up a 1-0 pitch and sent it deep over the wall in right-center to end the game in the eighth.

Struchtemeyer went 2-for-3 with two RBI, and Caruthers was 2-for-3 to lead the way in Game 2. Arana, Bishop and Jones had one hit apiece.

White (13-8) was charged with two earned runs on eight hits and four walks. She struck out three.

The series will conclude Sunday with one game, scheduled for a noon start. SFA's four seniors - Bishop, Harper, Jones and Michele Huffman - will be honored in a brief Senior Day ceremony, scheduled to start at approximately 11:15 a.m.

Nicholls 4, Sam Houston State 1
Sam Houston State 8, Nicholls 0 (5 innings)
HUNTSVILLE, Texas - The Nicholls State University softball team split with Sam Houston State on Saturday, winning the first 4-1 and falling in the second 8-0 at the Bobcat Softball Complex.

The Colonels (25-19, 16-13 Southland) opened up the first game by scoring in the top of the first, taking a 1-0 lead over the Bearkats (20-28, 11-17 Southland) when senior Lyndsay Mesh hit a RBI single that scored senior Audrey Wood.

The rest of the offense for the Colonels came in the top of third when Wood hit a three RBI double that gave Nicholls a 4-0 cushion through three innings, and senior Lacey Gros took control from there in the circle.

Gros only allowed one run the rest of the way, and only three hits in the game to lift the Colonels to a 4-1 victory. Gros improved to 13-7 with the win, while striking out a season low five batters per seven innings of work.

Leading Nicholls at the plate in the contest was freshman Ashton Bennett and sophomore Laine Strickland with 2-for-3 performances, while Wood went 1-for-4 with three RBI and a double.

In the second game, the score was knotted at zilch until the third when Sam Houston State put together a five-run inning to take a 5-0 lead. The Bearkats would strike again in the bottom of the fifth, scoring three to enforce the eight-run rule and end the game with an 8-0 win.

Nicholls committed four costly errors in the game, and only strung together four hits in the shutout loss.

Leading the Bearkats in the win was Morgan Mikulin with a 2-for-3 showing that included five RBI, two runs, a double and a homerun. Wood took the loss, falling to 6-6 on the year.

Nicholls and Sam Houston will be back in action tomorrow when they square off at noon.

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 4, Southeastern Louisiana 3
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 13, Southeastern Louisiana 5 (6 innings)
HAMMOND, La. - The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi softball team had a flair for the dramatic during the first game of the day against Southeastern Louisiana as they won a 4-3 game in eight innings.  In game two they dominated the Lady Lions by a 13-5 score in six innings to put themselves into position to qualify for the Southland Conference Tournament.

The Islanders are now 34-20 on the season and 15-14 in Southland Conference games.  The Lady Lions fall to 11-36 overall and 3-24 in league play.  Elena Crabtree came on to pitch in relief in both games and picked up both wins to improve to 16-11 on the season.

Caley Jeter had a monster day at the plate, going 4-for-5 at the plate with four walks and an RBI.

The Lady Lions took the lead early in game one as Kelsey Nichols hit a solo home run to left center in the bottom of the first inning for a 1-0 lead.  Southeastern added another single run in the bottom of the fourth to extend it to a 2-0 lead.

"I thought Southeastern did a great job defensively," said head coach Jake Schumann. "They did a great job pitching-wise by getting us out of our comfort zone early.

"Our kids got back in zone and started executing the game plan better."

The Islanders got on the board for the first time in the fifth with a pair of runs to make it 2-2.  With two outs in the inning, Cassie Redman started the rally with a single to left field and stole second base.  Hannah Schwarz followed with a double to right to score Redman and make it 2-1 Southeastern.  A single up the middle by Jeter tied the game up at 2-2 as Schwarz came around to score.

The Lady Lions wasted no time regaining the advantage with an unearned run in the bottom of the fifth to take a 3-2 lead.

The score remained the same until the top of the seventh inning as the Islanders were down to their final two outs when Lauren Sanders doubled to left center.  A Redman single to center field tied the game up at 3-3 and sent the game to extra innings.

"I thought we pressed in game one but Lauren Sanders got us going in the seventh," said Schumann. "We needed that spark and Lauren got it for us.

"We had a pretty good outing from there offensively to finish that game and take it to game two."

In the top of the eighth, Brittany Tucker led off with a single on the infield to put a runner on.  Kyrie Panter came on to pinch run and advanced to second on a Kacie Smith sacrifice bunt and moved to third on a wild pitch.  With Panter standing on third base, freshman Meagan McKinney drilled a double down the right field line to put the Islanders ahead for the first time all game at 4-3.

Crabtree shut down the Lady Lions in the bottom half of the eighth to secure the win for A&M-Corpus Christi.

Schwarz led the team with three hits while Redman, Jeter and Tucker each had two apiece.  Redman, Schwarz, Jeter and McKinney had one RBI each for the Islanders.

In game two, the Islander offense nearly matched a school record by recording 18 hits, one short of the current record set against Prairie View A&M on April 8, 2008.

The Islanders scored single runs in the first and second innings and three runs in the top of the third, including Tucker's ninth home run of the season.

The Lady Lions got on the board with three runs in the bottom half of the third to make it 5-3 Islanders.  A&M-Corpus Christi responded with six in the top of the fourth to put the game out of reach.  Redman led the inning off with a single and then Jeter walked to put runners on first and second.  Margo Hurdt singled in Redman to start the scoring.  A Smith walk loaded the bases ahead of a two-RBI single by Lauren Dodson to score Jeter and Hurdt before a hit-by-pitch put McKinney on to load the bases once again.  Sanders doubled to right center field to make it 10-3 Islanders.  A Redman single scored McKinney for the final run of the inning as A&M-Corpus Christi took an 11-3 lead after four innings.

After the Lady Lions scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth to extend the game, the Islanders responded with two of their own to once again put the mercy rule into play.  Sandy Schumann led off with a single and moved up on a McKinney single.  Both runners moved up on a passed ball while Sanders walked to load the bases.  Landry Moore hit a sacrifice fly to deep right center field to score both Schumann and McKinney, who was running all out once the catch was made for a rare two-RBI sacrifice fly to make it 13-5.

The Lady Lions loaded the bases in the bottom of the sixth but Crabtree worked her way out of the jam to record the final out of the game.

Redman and Hurdt each had three hits in game two while Jeter, Smith, Dodson, McKinney and Sanders had two apiece.  Tucker and Schumann rounded out the hits with one each.

With the wins today, the Islanders are in position to qualify for the Southland Conference Tournament with a win on Sunday.  Due to UTSA losing two games against Northwestern State, the Islanders now control their own fate when it comes to the tournament.

"It's been "win, win, win" for the last three weekends," said Schumann. "It has basically been the playoffs for us during those weekends.

"We just have to come back tomorrow and play loose while executing our game plan, hopefully we have an opportunity to get to the conference tournament for the first time ever."

Live stats and audio will be available by visiting www.GoIslanders.com.

Northwestern State 3, UTSA 1
Northwestern State 1, UTSA 0
NATCHITOCHES, La. - Northwestern State did everything it needed to do Saturday to stay alive for a Southland Conference Tournament berth as Kylie Roos and Brooke Boening hurled the Lady Demons to a doubleheader sweep over UTSA, 3-1, 1-0.

Boening and Roos each went the distance for Northwestern, which improved to 27-26 and 13-16 in conference play. UTSA dropped to 22-29 and 14-15 in league competition. Northwestern goes for the sweep tomorrow at noon at the Lady Demon Diamond, but were eliminated from an Southland Tournament berth after Texas A&M-Corpus Christi took one of Saturday's games from Southeastern.

Boening (9-9) picked up game two's win after hurling a complete-game, two-hit shutout. The freshman tossed a gem in the circle, fanning 12 batters, tying Northwestern's season high set by Kelee Grimes earlier this year. Boening gave up no walks and missed a perfect game by just two singles by Rudi Cantu and Danye Holmes, who also pitched a one-hit loss in game two.

"Brooke has been big all year long," second-year head coach Donald Pickett said. "She's had trouble finishing games, but today she was able to finish and we were very happy with that performance. When you shutout a team, it's hard to lose the ballgame."

Ashlee England proved to be the hero at the plate for the Lady Demons in the nightcap, with the only base knock off Holmes (6-9). England singled to centerfield to score Alyssa Breshears, who pinch ran for Samantha Roberts after drawing one of five walks surrendered by Holmes.

Roos (13-10) set the tone in the circle in game one with a complete-game, six-hit performance. She struck out seven batters, allowing just one run in the contest.

"Kylie got ahead of batters and got them swinging at pitches she wanted them to swing at," Pickett said. "They were out in front and they didn't adjust properly."

Roos helped her own cause, driving in the game's first run with a sacrifice fly to left field en route to a three-run first inning for the Lady Demons. Ashleigh Kuhn followed with an RBI double to drive in Kayla Cole and Stormi Stech capped off the rally with a two-out single up the middle to go on top, 3-0.

"It's always good to grab that early lead because it takes pressure off to be perfect," Pickett said. "We made plays today, and by scoring those runs early, you're able to take chances and we got great games from two freshman pitchers."

UTSA cut the lead to 3-1 in the fifth thanks to an RBI single by Cantu, which scored starting pitcher Emily Humpal. The Lady Demons, however, answered with two more runs in the bottom half of the frame to extend their lead to 5-1. Tiffany Ward crossed home plate due to a fielding error by the Roadrunners, setting up Randi Stuard's infield single to plate Stech.

Northwestern cracked eight of its nine base hits off Humpal (13-15), UTSA's ace, as she threw only 4 1/3 innings before being relieved by Morgan Luksa, who tossed the remainder of the game. The Lady Demons drew four walks and scored five runs off the starter.

"That was UTSA's best pitcher and we came out and did what we needed to do," Pickett said. "We put people on base and got them in. We've struggled with that lately, but we came up with big hits and rode that momentum all day."

Despite being eliminated from a conference tournament berth, Pickett's young squad came out Saturday afternoon and showed great signs of maturity as they took care of business.

"We came out and played with nothing to lose," Pickett said. "We're going to leave it all out on the field, and if it falls our way, great. We just played loose, had fun and did the things we've done all year long."

Central Arkansas 1, McNeese State 0
McNeese State 5, Central Arkansas 3 (9 innings)
CONWAY, Ark. - The University of Central Arkansas split a Southland Conference softball double-header with McNeese State at Farris Field on Saturday afternoon. The host Bears (25-30, 13-15) took the opener 1-0 on a walk-off base hit from senior Sarah Garcia. The Cowgirls (33-25, 16-13) rebounded to win the nightcap 5-3 in nine innings.

MSU freshman pitcher Meagan Bond limited UCA to just one hit through the first six innings of game one. The Bears broke through with a one-out double by freshman catcher Melanie Bryant, who was pulled for senior pinch runner Luisa Escobar. After a walk issued to junior first baseman Shayleen Ristau, Garica drove in Escobar with a single through the right side.

Bryant went 2-for-3 to lead the Bears at the plate.

UCA freshman Kelsie Armstrong picked up her 17th win and fifth shutout of the season by allowing just five hits, two walks and two strikeouts. Bond (20-10) struck out five and allowed two walks.

The Bears took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third of game two when freshman center fielder Candice Gauntt hit an infield single, stole second and late scored on a Bryant base hit.

The Cowgirls took the lead with a three-run, four-hit fifth inning. Lindsey Langner, Liz Morvant and Heather Mosser each had run-scoring singles in the inning.

Sophomore second baseman Paige Burke walked with one out in the bottom of the fifth and moved to third on a Gauntt double. Freshman shortstop Melissa Bryant tied the game with a base hit up the middle, scoring Burke and Gauntt.

The game remained scoreless until the top of the ninth when Morvant drove in Claire Terracina with a single to right field. Mosser followed with a base hit that scored Langner.

The Cowgirls outhit the Bears 13-8. Gauntt was 3-for-5 with two runs scored and a stolen base. She now has 45 runs scored this season, breaking the UCA record.

Morvant was 3-for-5 and Terracina, Langner, Mosser and Molly Guidry had two hits each for MSU.

Kayla Shepherd (7-8) gained the win by striking out eight and walking two. UCA senior starter Holli Hill lasted 4.1 innings, giving up seven hits, three runs and four walks. Freshman Bradie Baker allowed three hits in three innings of relief and Armstrong (17-16) was tagged with the loss by giving up three hits, two runs and a walk.

The Bears will host the Cowgirls in their season finale at noon on Sunday.