Softball: Feb. 28 Scoreboard
Southland Conference
Lamar 9, No. 25/RV Texas 1 (5)
Dartmouth 5, Lamar 4
Stephen F. Austin 4, Florida Atlantic 0
Ball State 3, Stephen F. Austin 1
McNeese State 5, Texas Tech 4 (8)
Memphis 3, McNeese State 2
Northwestern State 11, Ball State 10
No. 7/7 LSU 15, Northwestern State 1 (5)
Nicholls 8, Mississippi Valley State 1
Southern Mississippi 3, Nicholls 2 (11)
UIW 6, Jackson State 3
Mississippi Valley State 5, UIW 1
St. Louis 10, Southeastern Louisiana 3
Arkansas 6, Southeastern Louisiana 5
Cleveland State 14, Abilene Christian 11
Savannah State 11, Abilene Christian 8
Central Arkansas vs. Radford, Cancelled (Weather)
Central Arkansas vs. Oakland, Cancelled (Weather)
Lamar 9, No. 25/RV Texas 1 (5)
Dartmouth 5, Lamar 4
AUSTIN, Texas - Lamar University softball coach Holly Bruder is not prone to exaggerate. And she wasn't likely exaggerating when she referred to Saturday's 9-1 victory over the 25th-ranked Texas Longhorns as "the biggest win in program history."
The Lady Cardinals (6-9) received a one-hitter from freshman Laura Napoli as they cruised to the impressive win that was halted after five innings due to the mercy rule.
The Lady Cardinals are 3-1 at the Texas Invitational with one game remaining. After beating Dartmouth and Texas Southern on Friday, the Lady Cardinals opened Saturday with a 5-4 loss to Dartmouth before the resounding win over the host Longhorns (11-7).
Napoli (4-5), who took the loss in relief against Dartmouth, had a no-hitter for four innings against Texas before Mickenzi Krpec hit a pinch-hit solo home run to lead off the bottom of the fifth. The homer didn't faze Napoli, who retired the next three batters to end the game.
Jenna Holland led the Lamar offense against the Longhorns, going 2-for-4 with four RBIs. Brynn Baca added a two-run homer for Lamar.
The Lady Cardinals wasted no time getting to Texas starter Tiara Davis (4-3), erupting for five runs in the first inning. The Lady Cardinals got four more runs off reliever Lauren Slatten.
Casey Cromwell homered for Lamar in the loss to Dartmouth (2-6). Katie McEachern had two home runs for Dartmouth, which avenged a 6-2 loss to Lamar on Friday. Sarah Ragsdale added two hits for Lamar.
Lamar is scheduled to conclude play at the Texas Invitational by facing Texas Southern at noon Sunday. Lamar was a 13-1 winner over Texas Southern on Friday.
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Stephen F. Austin 4, Florida Atlantic 0
Ball State 3, Stephen F. Austin 1
BATON ROUGE, La. – The Stephen F. Austin softball team cooled off one of the hottest teams in the nation with two long balls on Saturday afternoon in LSU's Purple and Gold Challenge, blanking Florida Atlantic 4-0 inside Tiger Park. The Ladyjacks were also edged by Ball State 3-1 during the second day of the tournament.
The Ladyjacks (6-9) and Owls (15-2) were locked in a scoreless ballgame into the fifth inning before Lewis opened up the scoring with a three-run home run down the left field line with two outs. Taylor LeFlore singled to the gap in right-center and Heather Hollingsworth drew a walk to get into position for Lewis' third long ball of the year.
Freshman Taylor Fraccastoro padded SFA's advantage to 4-0 after cranking a solo homer to center field to lead off the sixth inning. The dinger was also the third of the season for the Ladyjack catcher.
The Ladyjacks didn't need further run support as Hannah Welch was lights out inside the circle. Welch (2-0) allowed six hits in seven scoreless innings and walked two to warrant the winning decision.
The SFA win snapped a 14-game winning streak for the Owls.
In the back end of Saturday's two-game affair, SFA scored first but couldn't hold off Ball State in a 3-1 defeat. Hollingsworth scored the Ladyjacks' lone run on a Cardinal error in the first inning. Despite recording just three hits on the day, Ball State scored three more runs to slip by SFA.
Freshman Callee Guffey (2-4) earned a quality start by surrendering three runs on three hits over a complete seven innings. She walked two, struck out three and was pegged with the loss.
The Ladyjacks will wrap up the Purple and Gold Challenge on Sunday morning at 11:30 a.m. against No. 7 LSU.
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McNeese State 5, Texas Tech 4 (8)
Memphis 3, McNeese State 2
LAKE CHARLES, La. – McNeese split its games on Saturday at the Cowgirl Classic, picking up a 5-4 extra inning win over Texas Tech before dropping a 3-2 night game to Memphis to end the day’s action.
The Cowgirls used the long ball to score its first three runs of the game in their second straight win over Texas Tech. McNeese defeated the Red Raiders 5-0 Saturday night.
Emily Vincent’s second home run of the season gave McNeese a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Vincent’s home run over the right centerfield wall scored Hailey Drew who led the game off with a walk.
Freshman Shanice Hagler hit her first career home run in the second inning to give McNeese a 3-0 lead. The Red Raiders cut into the Cowgirl lead with a run in the second before tying the game with two runs in the third.
Neither team was able to get another run across the plate until the sixth inning before Devon Thomey tripled to right field and scored on a Cowgirl error to give Texas Tech a 4-3 lead.
McNeese tied the game at four all in the seventh in what caused confusion to end the inning. Taylor Goree led the inning off by reaching base on an error. Marisa Taunton came in to pinch run for Goree and stole second. A walk by Lakeyn Fontenot put runners on the corners with no outs. A bunt single by Vincent advanced both runners one base. With two outs and Taunton on third, Morgan Catron hit a blooper between third and left field that scored Taunton to tie the game. Texas Tech failed to score in the bottom of the seventh, sending the game into extra innings.
Using the international tiebreaker rule, Lauren Langner was placed on second to begin the top of the eighth. Langner went to third on a ground out then scored on a Red Raider error for a 5-4 lead. Vincent, who pitched the final two innings of the game held Texas Tech at bay to pick up the win to improve to 6-1 on the year.
McNeese picked up five hits in the game with Vincent going 2 for 4 with two RBI and a home run. Goree was 2 for 3 and the other Cowgirl hit came from Hagler’s home run.
The Cowgirls opened the game against Memphis by taking a 1-0 lead in the first with a run by Drew on an error. Vincent’s RBI double to centerfield that nearly went over the wall, scored Goree for a 2-0 lead.
Memphis came back to take a 3-2 lead in the sixth on three hits off of Cowgirl starter Jamie Allred. McNeese had a chance to take the lead in the bottom half of the inning when Ericka Piancastelli doubled to left center with one out. Pinch runner Bryanna Castro went to third on a wild pitch but the Cowgirls final out was a pop up to third to end the threat.
Memphis’ Jordan Richwood got the Cowgirls to go down in order in the seventh to end the game.
The Cowgirls were held to three hits with two being doubles from Vincent and Piancastelli. The other hit was as single from Langner.
Allred fell to 1-3 on the year in the complete game. Allred gave up four hits, struck out seven and walked four.
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Northwestern State 11, Ball State 10
No. 7/7 LSU 15, Northwestern State 1 (5)
BATON ROUGE, La. – Northwestern State scored six runs in the sixth inning to tie the game at 10 against Ball State before Cassandra Barefield laced a two-out seventh inning walk-off single to cap a ferocious 11-10 comeback victory at LSU’s Purple and Gold Challenge on Saturday.
In the weekend, finale, the Lady Demons (9-11) fell 15-1 to No. 7 LSU in five innings. The Tigers plated nine runs in the second inning and outhit NSU, 14-2.
Against Ball State (8-10), Brittany Virgoe launched her fourth home run of the season in the sixth inning, plating Hailee Rhodes (double) and Sidney Salmans (single). The three-run shot brought the game to within three at 10-7. After Kellye Kincannon and Barefield singled, Brittney Jones doubled off the wall to cut the deficit to one at 10-9.
After Natalie Landry walked to load the bases, Kayla Boening singled to left field to bring home Barefield at tie the game at 10.
It was the fourth time this season the Lady Demons have scored at least 10 runs in a game. One season ago, NSU scored at least 10 runs in a game eight times, tying the program’s previous record set in 2005.
The victory was the 162nd of the Donald Pickett era, moving the NSU head coach into second all-time in program history in wins. In his seventh season at the helm, Pickett passes up Gay McNutt (1995-2000) and now only trails Rickey McCalister's (1987-1994) impressive 245 wins.
NSU jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first. Sidney Salmans led off the inning with a single and came around two score two batters later on a Kincannon single and Cardinals’ error. Later, Kayla Boening picked up her second and third RBIs of the season when the senior drove in Brittney Jones (fielder’s choice) and Barefield (hit by pitch).
Mikayla Brown earned her first win of the season, tossing 3 2-3 innings, giving up two runs and two hits to close out the game. Starter Skylar Cagle tossed 2 1-3 innings, giving up three hits and four runs. Shelby Sells came on in relief, allowing four runs, only one earned, in one inning.
Against LSU (20-0), Virgoe led off the fourth inning with a double and came around to score when Kincannon singled up the middle.
In the circle, Micaela Bouvier drew the loss, allowing 10 hits and eight earned runs in 1 2-3 innings pitched. Baylee Gray came on in relief, going 2 1-3 innings, giving up four hits and three earned runs.
Northwestern State returns to Baton Rouge on Tuesday night to face LSU at six o’clock.
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Nicholls 8, Mississippi Valley State 1
Southern Mississippi 3, Nicholls 2 (11)
GULFPORT, Miss. – After defeating Mississippi Valley State 8-1 in the first game, the Nicholls State University softball team looked to make it a perfect 4-0 for the weekend in its night cap against Southern Miss on Saturday, but the Colonels would come up short in an 11-inning pitchers’ duel, falling 3-2 to the Golden Eagles at the Mississippi Gulf Coast Classic.
Nicholls (9-6) closed out the classic with a 3-1 mark, notching two wins over MVSU and one over Jackson State. The Colonels will look to stay hot as they host two doubleheaders this week, taking on Detroit on Monday at 4 p.m. before a 5 p.m. matchup against Holy Cross on Tuesday.
For the second straight game, Nicholls completely overmatched Mississippi Valley State as Hannah Haydel put together six strong innings of work in the circle and Laura Neil drove in three runs to lead the Colonels to an 8-1 victory.
Mississippi Valley took a 1-0 lead after the second by scoring on an error, but Nicholls responded with a four-run third. The Colonels had four hits in the frame and also took advantage of two errors by MVSU. Kayla Prater tied the game on a RBI groundout, Alexis Huss gave Nicholls the lead with a RBI single through the right side and Neil capped the inning with a 2-run single up the middle.
Leading 4-1 in the fifth, the Colonels added another run on an error before Payton Gremillion singled home a run. MVSU struggled in the field all game as they were charged with six errors.
In the sixth, Nicholls tacked on two insurance runs without getting a hit. An error and two walks loaded the bases, leading to a RBI by Jessica Taylor on a hit-by-pitch. Neil also drew a free pass with the bases loaded to make the score 8-1.
The eight runs were more than enough for the pitching staff, which combined to allow just three hits. Haydel (4-2) struck out eight batters in six innings of work and Taylor Hastings pitched the seventh, surrendering a hit.
Gremillion and Brooke Morris led the offense with two hits each.
Colonel sophomore Jackie Johnson battled it out with Southern Miss hurler Jillian Johnson as the two combined to pitch 22 innings, but it was Southern Miss that came out on top at the end with a 3-2 victory in 11 innings to close out the Mississippi Gulf Coast Classic.
Neither pitcher allowed a run through five innings before the Colonels cracked the scoring column with a run in the bottom of the sixth. A single by Gremillion led off the frame and an error by the Golden Eagles put two on with no outs. Following a sacrifice bunt, Danielle Phillips drove in the game’s first run on a sacrifice fly to put Nicholls up 1-0.
Needing only three outs to complete a 4-0 weekend, the Colonels buckled under pressure with two costly errors in the seventh. A leadoff error by Morris set up a sacrifice bunt to move the runner to second, and Jackie Johnson then threw the ball away on the next play to allow the runner to score to tie the game.
In the extra frames, neither team scored in the eighth or ninth. Southern Miss broke the tie in the 10th with a RBI single; however, the Colonels came right back as Taylor scored on a wild pitch.
But Nicholls returned the favor in the 11th by letting a run come home on a wild pitch. It turned out to be the winning run as the Colonels came up empty in the bottom half, ending the game at 3-2.
Jackie Johnson fanned 12 batters in 11 innings of work, allowing no earned runs on five hits. Her counterpart, Jillian Johnson, struck out nine Colonels and surrendered no earned runs as well on three hits. Gremillion had two of the hits while Huss recorded the other.
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UIW 6, Jackson State 3
Mississippi Valley State 5, UIW 1
GULFPORT, Miss. – The University of the Incarnate Word softball team split a pair of games for the second straight day at the Mississippi Gulf Coast Softball Classic on Saturday. They defeated Jackson State, 6-3 and then lost to Mississippi Valley State, 5-1.
In the opener, the Cardinals (3-14) got off to a good start when Taylor Johnson (Schertz/Clemens HS) led off the bottom of the first inning with an inside the park home run. It was the senior's first career homer and gave the team an early 1-0 lead.
The Tigers (4-15) stormed back in the top of the third inning. Tatyana Givens' two-out triple tied the game and then Gaylan Johnson, A.J. Hervey and Sarah Gore followed with consecutive singles to give the team a 3-1 lead. The Cardinals responded in the bottom half of the inning with four runs. UIW had seven batters reach base safely and moved station-to-station to take a 5-3 lead.
The Cardinals were able to add an insurance run in the fifth inning when Katie Helm (New Braunfels/New Braunfels HS) was walked with the bases loaded. Brooke DuBois (Pearland/Pearland HS) pitched the final 4.1 innings in relief without allowing a run to earn the win. She did not allow a runner past second base. She had three strikeouts while giving up three hits and three walks. Merina Young was handed the loss for the Tigers after giving up four runs in 2.0 innings of work.
In the second game of the day, the Devilettes (2-12) surprised the Cardinals thanks to an excellent pitching performance by Rebekah Clinton. Clinton stymied UIW by allowing six hits, one run and no walks while striking out two in a complete game victory. MVSU entered the game with a team earned run average over 10.00
The Devilettes scored in the bottom of the first inning on an RBI single by Ikeyia Alexander. MVSU exploded for four runs in the fifth inning when they put the first four batters of the inning on base and all four scored.
The Cardinals only real rally of the game came in the sixth inning when they put together three consecutive singles after the first two outs were recorded. Kristin Hebert (Humble/Atascocita HS) drove in the team's only run of the game. She also pitched 2.0 innings in relief allowing one hit and one run. Mikaela Flores (Lockhart/Lockhart HS) took the loss after allowing seven hits and four runs in 4.0 innings.
The Cardinals will open up Southland Conference play on Friday when they travel to Northwestern State for a 3 p.m. doubleheader.
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St. Louis 10, Southeastern Louisiana 3
Arkansas 6, Southeastern Louisiana 5
HAMMOND, La. – Despite big days at the plate by freshman third baseman Sydney Booker and junior designated player Amber Sather, the Southeastern Louisiana softball team lost a pair of games on day two of the Lion Scramble Saturday at North Oak Park.
In the nightcap, Arkansas (11-7) scored three runs in the top of the 7th to rally past the Lady Lions (4-11) for a 6-5 victory. Sather led SLU at the plate, going 3-for-4 with her first home run of the season, as well as a double. Sophomore outfielder Sloan Jenkins drove in two runs, as she, Booker and freshman outfielder Kinsey Nichols each collected two hits for SLU, which out-hit the Razorbacks, 13-9.
In the opener, St. Louis (6-6) scored seven runs in the first inning on the way to a 10-3 victory over the Lady Lions. Junior outfielder Katie Lacour led SLU with three hits in the loss, while Booker drove in two runs and Nichols collected an RBI.
The Billikens sent 12 to the plate in their big first inning, chasing SLU senior Spencer Adkinson (0-4) before she could get out of the opening frame. Junior Madison Vige’ came in to get out of the inning, but not before St. Louis grabbed a 7-0 lead.
An RBI triple by right fielder Mackenzie Peter in the top of the third inning padded the Billikens’ lead. Facing a possible run-rule, SLU broke through with three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Singles by sophomore catcher Lacey Fritz and Lacour put runners on the corners with two outs. Nichols then beat out an infield hit, allowing freshman pinch runner Shelby Stewart to score the game’s first run. Booker followed with a double off the left centerfield fence to cut the St. Louis advantage to 8-3.
That would be as close as Southeastern would get, however. St. Louis added two insurance runs in the top of the seventh inning to provide the final margin.
Junior Taylor Bishop (2-3) sat down the first seven Arkansas batters she faced in the nightcap. However, the Razorbacks took advantage of an error by senior second baseman Vanessa Eng to score a pair of unearned runs and take a 2-0 lead in the top of the third inning.
After stranding six runners in the first three innings, SLU finally broke through in the bottom of the fourth inning. Sather doubled, senior first baseman Teresa Lemos reached on an error and Lacour walked to load the bases with one out. Consecutive singles by Nichols and Booker tied the score, then a two-run single by Jenkins gave Southeastern a 4-2 lead.
Sather padded the lead in the bottom of the fifth inning. The Kennedale, Texas native launched a leadoff home run to straight away centerfield to put SLU on top, 5-2.
Arkansas would cut into the lead in the top of the sixth inning. Designated player Shelby Hiers led off the frame with a line-drive solo home run over the left field fence to pull the Razorbacks within two.
Southeastern had an opportunity to add insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. A single by Jenkins and a double by senior shortstop Megan Moore put a pair of runners in scoring position with two outs, but Arkansas pitcher Allison Stewart (4-2) struck out Fritz to end the frame. In total, SLU left 11 runners on in the loss.
In the seventh, a two-run double by shortstop Kasey Fagan tied the score for Arkansas. Fagan would later score on an RBI single by left fielder Rachel Box to give the Razorbacks a 6-5 lead.
Sather led off the bottom of the seventh with a sharp single to left. However, Arkansas reliever Sydney Wright retired Lemos, Eng and Lacour to earn her first save of the season.
Southeastern will be back in action on Tuesday, hosting a 2 p.m. round-robin tripleheader with Ball State and Detroit at North Oak Park.
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Cleveland State 14, Abilene Christian 11
Savannah State 11, Abilene Christian 8
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Freshman Peyton Hedrick went 6-for-7 and Cara Hoover and Brianna Barnhill each blasted a pair of home runs during Abilene Christian's Saturday morning losses to Cleveland State and Savannah State at Jacksonville University's Pruitt Softball Complex.
ACU (3-12) began its day with a 14-11 defeat to the Vikings (7-4) before losing again in gut-wrenching fashion to the Tigers, 11-8. The Wildcats took an 11-6 lead into the bottom of the fourth only to watch Cleveland State score the game's final eight runs. And vs. Savannah State (3-4), they surrendered four unanswered runs between the fifth and sixth innings after coming all the way back from a 7-0 deficit.
Senior Emily Sediel started both games for ACU, striking out four over 7.1 innings pitched. Unfortunately, she and reliever Julia Montoya also combined to give up 12 home runs among the 16 extra-base hits clubbed by the opposition plus nine walks. The Wildcats were additionally hurt by four errors through 55 chances.
The first of those miscues took place with two outs in the first inning vs. Cleveland State and led to a five-run frame for the Vikings as both Alyson Broschk and Sideney Morgan took Seidel deep.
Morgan's two-run shot to left-center field put the Vikings ahead 5-1 and the score stayed that way until the third when Alyson Bishoff singled home Hedrick, who went 4-for-4 in game one. Two batters later, Hoover tied the score at 5-5 with a three-run blast to left field off starter Mackenzie Joecken.
Cleveland State briefly retook the lead once more in its half of third on a RBI single by Katelind Phillips, but ACU sent 10 batters to the plate in the following frame as part of a six-run fourth.
Sophomore Taylor Brown tripled to start the inning and scored on a single slapped back up the middle by Kristin Watkins. Cleveland State then went to its bullpen, but found no relief as Kristin Catalano allowed all four batters she faced to reach base, including Holly Neese and Hoover, each of whom drilled a two-run double to center.
ACU second baseman Holly Vanckhoven scored in between the extra-base hits on a passed ball.
The Vikings went to their pen a second time following Hoover's hit and came out with junior and game-winner Susan Knight, who silenced the Wildcats' offense over the final 4.0 innings behind 10 strikeouts.
ACU started to get to Knight in the seventh and had the tying run at the plate with two outs, but Knight got Neese swinging to end the game.
Offensively, Cleveland State answered the Wildcats' six-run fourth with five runs of its own that tied the score once more at 11-11. Then in the fifth, Joecken made up for her shaky start with a go-ahead, two-run shot to right-center field off Seidel. In the sixth inning, Cynthia Woodard led off with a solo blast vs. Montoya.
Seidel returned to the circle to start game two vs. the Tigers, but after getting two quick pop ups to start the first she issued a walk that was followed by a home run. Then came a single and run-scoring triple as Savannah State jumped ahead 3-0.
The Tigers left two aboard in the second after Seidel escaped a jam with two strikeouts and a ground ball, but she could not get out of the third inning. The first five Tigers all reached base, the last of whom was second baseman Molly Lillis who made it a 7-0 game following her three-run shot over the wall in left-center field.
But the Wildcats would not go away quietly as they responded with a seven-run third against starter Amanda Hallman.
Home runs by the Wildcats' No. 7 and 9 batters Hoover and Barnhill - with a walk by Baylee Travers sandwiched in between - cut the Tigers' lead to 7-3. Then singles by Brown and Watkins were followed by a two-run double down the left-field line by Hedrick.
Neese walked to load the bases with no outs and Bishoff capitalized on the situation by driving in two on a run-scoring single that made it 7-6. One batter later, Vanckhoven tied the score at 7-7 on a sac fly to right.
Hoover returned to the plate once more that inning and was issued a walk, but after Savannah State brought in reliever Helen Keevy, she was quickly wiped out by a 6-4-3 double play.
Keevy would start the fourth by giving up the second of Barnhill's two home runs, but was quite effective afterward as she wriggled out of a jam with runners at the corners by getting Bishoff to ground out to first base.
Ashley Eichenlaub came in for Keevy to begin the fifth and earned the victory in relief as two of her 3.0 scoreless innings were preceded by a two-run frame.
The Tigers went ahead for good on Lillis' second home run with one out in the fifth, and in the sixth, Montoya surrendered solo shots to sisters Amber and Amanda Hallman. The twins went a combined 6-for-7 with five runs and two RBI against Wildcat pitching.
ACU concludes its stay at the Dolphin Classic Sunday morning with a rematch vs. Campbell. The Camels won Friday's game over the Wildcats, 3-1.
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