Softball: March 28 Scoreboard
Southland Conference
McNeese State 13, Abilene Christian 6
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 1, Stephen F. Austin 0
Houston Baptist 7, UIW 0
Lamar 4, Northwestern State 3
Sam Houston State 8, Southeastern Louisiana 3
Central Arkansas 4, Nicholls 3
McNeese State 13, Abilene Christian 6
ABILENE, Texas – McNeese softball bounced back from its first conference loss of the season with a 13-6 rubber game victory over Abilene Christian Saturday to take the series 2-1.
McNeese (25-12, 11-1 SLC) scored six of its 13 runs off two home runs by Rachel Smith and one by Erika Piancastelli. Smith had a career day at the plate by not only hitting her first career home run in the fourth inning. Smith hit her second career home run and second of the game in the seventh inning. Smith and Piancastelli both ended the day with three RBI’s apiece.
Also picking up two hits in the game along with Smith and Piancastelli was Emily Vincent and Lauren Langner.
Smith also picked up the win to improve to 9-3 on the season. She gave up six runs on six hits in six innings, ending the game with six strikeouts and four walks.
McNeese scored at least one run in all but one inning and ended the game with 11 hits. The Cowgirls opened the game with three runs in the first on a two RBI triple by Vincent and a RBI ground out by Langner.
Abilene Christian (6-24, 2-10 SLC) scored two runs in the bottom half of the inning to cut the McNeese lead to 3-2. Two more runs crossed the plate for McNeese in the second via a two RBI single up the middle by Marisa Taunton for a 5-2 McNeese lead.
After ACU scored a run in the third, McNeese outscored ACU 8-3 in the final four innings.
Smith helped her cause in the circle by giving the Cowgirls a 6-3 lead in the fourth with her first career home run. McNeese got two more runs in the fifth on RBI’s by Tori Yanitor and another RBI by Langner for an 8-3 lead.
ACU scored three runs in the bottom of the inning off a three-run home run by Peyton Hedrick, cutting the McNeese lead to 8-6.
Piancastelli answered the ACU homer with a three-run shot of her own to left center field for her 13th home run of the season and third of the series for an 11-6 lead.
Smith capped the McNeese scoring off with her second career home run and second of the game with a two run blast to right center in the seventh to give McNeese the 13-6 win.
McNeese will host Louisiana-Lafayette in a single game on Wednesday, April 1 at 6 p.m.
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Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 1, Stephen F. Austin 0
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Sophomore Jessica Mendez ripped a two-out RBI single to center field to score senior Mickayla Cochran in the bottom of the sixth to lift the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi softball team to a 1-0 victory over Stephen F. Austin today in the final game of the series. The Islanders (9-21-1, 4-8 SLC) earned their fourth shutout win of the season and their second straight Southland Conference series victory.
Sophomore Liz Carter put together another strong performance in the Islanders' circle limiting SFA (9-22, 2-9 SLC) to three hits on the day. She also allowed just one walk while picking up four strikeouts. The Austin, Texas native did not allow a hit until the top of the third when Brittany Lewis hit a single to center field.
Cochran went 2-for-3 to lead the Islanders' bats while junior Cosette Hernandez and sophomore Brittney Morse each tallied one hit apiece to extend their hitting streak to seven games. Junior Dani Tefft, senior Hayley Galloway and sophomore Mackinzee Griebel also joined Mendez with one hit apiece. The Islanders' bats outhit the Ladyjacks, 8-3.
Carter retired the first four Ladyjacks she faced before giving up her first walk of the game. The Islanders put up the first hit of the game in the bottom of the first when Tefft nailed a one-out single through the middle. The Islanders kept striking as they recorded a hit in each of the next three innings but were unable to bring any runs across. Then in the bottom of the fifth Griebel and Hernandez hit consecutive infield singles but the Ladyjacks pulled out the jam retiring the next three Islanders.
A&M-Corpus Christi's bats kept battling and in the top of the sixth Cochran started things off with an infield single before senior Lindsey Lyles did her job to advance Cochran to second with a sacrifice bunt. After a fly out by Galloway, Mendez stepped to the plate and blasted a RBI single to center field to score Cochran and put the Islanders on the board. Griebel followed with a groundout to end the inning.
SFA threatened in the final frame as Taylor Fraccastoro led off the frame with a single to left field and Shalie Day advanced her to second with a sacrifice bunt. Carter however settled in and retired the side to help the Islanders secure the win.
Hannah Welch (2-3) registered the loss for SFA in six innings. She allowed eight hits and one run.
The Islanders will continue Southland Conference play when they travel to Huntsville, Texas, to take on Sam Houston State in a three-game series starting on Friday, April 3.
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Houston Baptist 7, UIW 0
HOUSTON, Texas – Behind senior 1B Melissa Herman’s bat and junior pitcher Laci Belovsky’s arm, HBU softball completed the series sweep over visiting Incarnate Word with a 7-0 victory Saturday afternoon from Husky Field.
Herman went 2-for-4 with a game-best four RBIs as she hit a grand slam in the second inning to lead HBU (9-19 overall, 3-9 SLC). Nicole Shedd had a game-high three hits in four at-bats with two RBIs. Victoria Granchelli led all players with two runs scored. Laci Belovsky (6-7) earned the complete-game win in the circle, as she allowed just four hits and one walk with three strikeouts. She has three complete-game shutouts on the season, two coming this series.
Four different players led Incarnate Word (3-26, 0-12) with a hit. Sarah Leal (0-4) started in the circle and took the loss, as she gave up four hits and two runs in 1.2 innings. Brooke DuBois allowed six hits, four earned runs, and one walk with one strikeout in the final 4.1 innings.
HBU put a five-spot in the bottom of the second, highlighted by Herman’s blast. Prior to that, Shedd’s RBI single got the Huskies on the board as it scored Madison Vonhagel.
Belovsky had a no-hitter going until Alex Alonzo hit a one-out single to right field in the top of the fourth.
Shedd recorded her second RBI of the game in the bottom of the sixth, as she smacked a single to center that allowed Shay Orsak to cross home. Moments later, with V. Granchelli at third, the Huskies pulled a double steal, as the Cardinals tried to get Shedd at second and V. Granchelli was able to score to give the Huskies a 7-0 lead.
HBU plays a three-game series at Stephen F. Austin Friday and Saturday, April 3 and 4 with a doubleheader Friday. First pitch both days is set for a 1 p.m. start.
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Lamar 4, Northwestern State 3
BEAUMONT, Texas – In a game between two of the top hitting teams in the Southland Conference, the Lamar Lady Cardinals used a walk-off bunt to claim a 4-3 win over visiting Northwestern State on Saturday.
"I'd have never guessed this game would be won on a bunt," said Lamar coach Holly Bruder, who coached her 600th career game. "We played well today, and I thought we deserved the win."
The victory salvaged the final game of a three-game series for Lamar (17-13 overall, 10-2 Southland), which had dropped a doubleheader to Northwestern State (20-13, 10-1) on Friday.
"We showed a lot of character coming back and playing the way we did today," Bruder said. "Those are the types of games we are going to have to play if we want to be a championship-caliber team."
Lamar built a 3-0 lead after five innings only to see Northwestern state rally with three runs in the top of the sixth to knot things up.
After Northwestern State got a runner on with one out in the seventh, Lamar starter Laura Napoli (12-7) struck out the four and five hitters in the Northwestern State lineup to set up the improbable finish in the bottom of the seventh.
Leadoff hitter Casey Cromwell opened the bottom of the seventh by drawing a walk from Northwestern State reliever Mikayla Brown (4-1). Cromwell didn't stay on first long, as Lamar's Sarah Ragsdale put down a bunt that was fielded by Brown, whose throw sailed into the outfield, allowing Cromwell to sprint around the bases with the winning run.
"I was just trying to play normal softball and move the runner over to second," Bruder said. "I never expected that would be the game-winner."
Shannon Sain and Brynn Baca had two hits apiece for Lamar. Sain extended her school record of reaching base safely to 23 straight games.
Napoli pitched a complete game allowing eight hits and three earned runs. She walked one and struck out five, tying a career high.
Brown took the loss in relief, allowing two hits and one run, which was unearned.
The Lady Cardinals host UTSA in a nonconference doubleheader at 3 p.m. Wednesday before heading to Southeastern Louisiana for a three-game conference series on Friday and Saturday.
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Sam Houston State 8, Southeastern Louisiana 3
HUNTSVILLE, Texas – Meme Quinn posted her fourth complete game of the year in the circle and Hillary Adams blasted her 37th career home run to lead Sam Houston to an 8-3 softball victory over Southeastern Louisiana Saturday.
The Bearkats, now 9-21 for the year and 2-9 in Southland play, out-hit the Lions 10-5. The total included four doubles and two home runs. Southeastern Louisiana had won four of their last five games coming into the contest including two wins over the SHSU women in the opening doubleheader of the three-game Southland series Friday.
Quinn struck out two and walked only three of the 29 batters she faced. Her complete game marked only the eighth for the SHSU pitching staff this year.
Tiffany Castillo got things started for Sam Houston with a lead-off home run to left field in the second inning. SLU tied the contest at a run apiece with an RBI single in the bottom of the second.
Jessica Slater and Allysa Garcia began a five-run third inning for the Kats with consecutive doubles. After a Castillo walk, Adams blasted a shot over the fence in left center to up her career totals to 37 home runs and 129 RBIs. Both stand as Sam Houston’s all-time high marks.
Sarah Allison singled to through the left side and scored on a double to right center by Jennie Kieval to give Sam Houston a 6-1 lead.
The Lions added runs in the third and fourth on a sacrifice fly and a home run by Lacey Fritz. Angelica Gonzales and Alexis Garcia brought in two more runs with doubles in the top of the seventh.
Sam Houston returns to action in a three-game Southland series versus Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at the Softball Complex in Huntsville next Friday and Saturday.
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Central Arkansas 4, Nicholls 3
CONWAY, Ark. – The Central Arkansas Bears continued their run of come-from-behind wins on Saturday, scoring two runs in the bottom of the seventh to remain perfect in Southland Conference play with a 4-3 win over Nicholls.
The Colonels (17-12, 5-5 SLC) struck first, getting an RBI triple from shortstop Brooke Morris to take a 1-0 lead. Following a walk, Nicholls executed a double-steal to push the lead to 2-0.
Central Arkansas (22-8, 10-0 SLC) evened the score in the fifth inning. Following a strikeout to start the inning, third baseman Sam Forrest got the Bears on the board, launching her seventh home run of the season over the fence in left-centerfield to cut the Nicholls lead to 2-1. Right fielder Briana Whisenhunt followed Forrest with a single and a stolen base, before catcher Jessie Taylor ripped a single through the left side of the infield to score Whisenhunt from second and knot the score at 2-2.
Nicholls re-took the lead with an infield single in the top of the seventh, but the Bears rallied in the bottom half of the frame. After Forrest led off the inning with a single to second base, she was lifted in favor of pinch runner Brianna McArthur, who moved to third base on a single from second baseman Sarah Bigej. Bigej advanced to second on the throw. Taylor came through in the clutch again for Central Arkansas, blasting a single off the fence in left field to drive in McArthur and Bigej and give the Bears the win.
Forrest led the Central Arkansas offense, going a perfect 3-for-3 from the plate with a double and a home run, while Taylor went 2-for-4 with three RBI. Morris and leftfielder Hayley Parkerson paced the Nicholls attack, each going 2-for-3 with an RBI.
Kylee Studioso (18-4) overcame a rough first innings that saw her allow two runs on two hits to limit the Colonels to a single run on five hits over the remaining six innings. She finished the day with six strikeouts and a walk. Hannah Haydel (10-6) took the loss for Nicholls, allowing four runs on eight hits and three walks while striking out five.
The Bears and the Colonels will close out the series with a doubleheader tomorrow. The day’s first game will begin at noon.
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