Softball: April 15 Scoreboard
Southland Conference
Northwestern State 4, Louisiana Tech 0
Sam Houston State 6, Texas Southern 5 (11)
No. 3/3 LSU 13, McNeese State 4 (5)
No. 24/23 Texas A&M 13, Lamar 0 (5)
Texas State 12, Houston Baptist 0 (5)
Nicholls at Jackson State (DH), Cancelled (Weather)
Louisiana-Monroe at Stephen F. Austin (DH), Cancelled (Weather)
UTSA at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Cancelled (Weather)
Northwestern State 4, Louisiana Tech 0
RUSTON, La. – A lot has changed for Northwestern State softball pitcher Mikayla Brown since the last time the freshman faced Louisiana Tech. The right-hander made her first collegiate start on March 18 against the Lady Techsters, lasting just 1 1-3 innings, allowing five hits and two runs.
Making her fifth start on Wednesday night in Ruston, the Deville native was sharp, fanning five hitters in three innings and blanking LA Tech in her tune-up for the weekend as NSU downed the Lady Techsters 4-0.
Sophomore Skylar Cagle (3-1) earned the win in relief for Brown, tossing four innings, allowing four hits while striking out three and walking one. The righty survived the Lady Techsters’ biggest blow in the sixth, inducing a ground ball to freshman Hailee Rhodes at shortstop with runners on second to secure NSU’s ninth shutout of the season. The game marked the first time this season LA Tech had been shut out.
“It was awesome,” seventh-year head coach Donald Pickett said of his pitchers. “Brown got us off to a great start in those three innings and Cagle was big in the final four. They were very confident and had good approaches against the Tech lineup.”
The win was the Lady Demons’ fifth straight against Louisiana Tech as the club improved to 25-14 on the season. Meanwhile, the Lady Techsters fells to 26-13.
NSU got on the board in the sixth inning when senior Cassandra Barefield’s launched a two-run home run. Senior Brittany Virgoe singled and sophomore Kellye Kincannon hit into a fielder’s choice to set the stage for Barefield to launch her 13th long ball of the season and 49th of her career.
One inning later, Rhodes led off with a single, to move her season-high hit streak to five games. After senior Kayla Boening came in to pinch run, freshman Sidney Salmans doubled to center to plate Boening. The lead later grew to 4-0 on a passed ball with Virgoe at the plate to score Rhodes.
“LA Tech is a really good team,” Pickett said. “Their pitcher was getting us to chase some pitches early. We were able to get some things going the third time through the lineup. It was good to see us come back in the seventh with a pair of insurance runs as well.”
Louisiana Tech starter Bianca Duran (13-10) drew the loss, giving up four hits and two runs in 5 1-3 innings while walking two and striking out another. Bailey Allen came on in relief, tossing the final 1 2-3, permitting three hits and the game’s final two runs.
With a single to right field in the fourth, Kellye Kincannon moved her hit streak to six games. The sophomore has recorded hits in 17 of her last 18 games. Elsewhere, Mikayla Sorosiak finished 2-for-3 at the plate marking the seventh multi-hit game this season for the sophomore.
Northwestern State closes out regular-season home play this weekend by welcoming Nicholls for a three-game set. Due to expected inclement weather, the squads will play a Saturday doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. before closing out the series on Sunday at noon.
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Sam Houston State 6, Texas Southern 5 (11)
HUNTSVILLE, Texas – Right fielder Sarah Allison’s sacrifice fly in the seventh helped Sam Houston force extra innings and her walk-off single up the middle in the 11th provided the Bearkats a 6-5 non-conference softball victory over Texas Southern Wednesday night.
The game was scheduled to be played in Houston but wet fields at Texas Southern forced moving the game to the Bearkat Softball Complex in Huntsville.
Down 3-1, Texas Southern rallied for two runs in both the top of the sixth and seventh innings to take a 5-3 lead. Sam Houston scored two to tie in bottom of the seventh to take the game into extra innings.
The Bearkats now stand 13-24 for the year while the defending Southwestern Athletic Conference champion Tigers drop to 14-15.
“It was a tough game but a good one to win,” Sam Houston head coach Bob Brock said. “Coach (Worley) Barker really has done a great job with Texas Southern’s program.”
Sam Houston totaled 14 hits while TSU posted 11. The Bearkats left 10 runners on base while the Tigers stranded nine.
Texas Southern got off to a quick start as shortstop Thomasina Garza singled to score right fielder Jessica Miller who opened the game with a single. The Tigers loaded the bases in the top of the first on two more hits and an error but the Kats got to quick outs to get out of the jam.
Third baseman Peyton Webb led off the bottom of the second inning with a single up the right field line. After being sacrificed to second by left fielder Jennie Kieval, Webb scored on a single to left center field by first baseman Angelica Gonzales as the SHSU women took a 2-1 lead.
An over-the-shoulder catch by Tiger center fielder Brianna Simpson as she hit the outfield wall robbed Gonzales what would have been a two-run homer in the bottom of the fourth to keep the Kats within one run.
Catcher Tiffany Castillo hit a shot over the fence and under the scoreboard in left field to extend the Kat lead to 3-1 in the fifth inning. The homer was Castillo’s fifth of the year and 20th of her three-year SHSU career.
Texas Southern tied the contest with a pair of unearned runs in the top of the sixth inning on a throwing error and a run-scoring single by designated player Krsyalani Yockman. The Tigers took the lead in the top of the seventh on a two-run homer by Parker.
After singles by Gonzales, center fielder Jessica Slater and second baseman Dani Allen loaded the bases, right fielder Sarah Allison brought in one run with a sacrifice fly and Allen scored on a passed ball to force extra innings.
Slater led off the 11th inning with a single then reached third when the Tiger right field fumbled a base hit by Allen to let the two runners advance. With one out, Allison slammed a ball straight up the middle for the game winner.
Meme Quinn (6-6) was the winner in the circle for SHSU. She limited the Tigers to three hits and struck out three batters in five innings of relief. Haley Baros was the starter for Sam Houston.
The Bearkats will play host to Abilene Christian in a three-game Southland Conference series this weekend.
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No. 3/3 LSU 13, McNeese State 4 (5)
LAKE CHARLES, La. – McNeese freshman Erika Piancastelli tied the single season home run record with her 17th home run of the season, but it wasn’t enough as the Cowgirls fell 13-4 in five innings to third ranked LSU Wednesday night.
McNeese (26-18) dropped its fourth straight game after taking an early 2-0 lead in the first inning. Piancastelli scored the first run of the game on an error before Emily Vincent crossed the plate on the second of three Tiger errors of the game.
McNeese managed to get only two hits off Tiger starter Allie Walljasper (11-2), both coming from Piancastelli. Piancastelli also scored two of the four Cowgirl runs and knocked in two of the four Cowgirl runs.
Emily Vincent took the loss after giving up four runs on one hit. After Vincent held the Tigers with their first runner in scoring position, she struggled to find the strike zone in the second inning. She walked the first three batters she faced and four of the six she faced in the inning. She falls to 10-5 with the loss.
LSU (39-5) blew the game open with five runs in the third behind a Bailey Landry two RBI double to left center and an illegal pitch by Cowgirl reliever Jolie Trahan.
The knockout punch came from a grand slam from Allison Falcon in the fourth inning to extend the lead to 13-2. The long ball was Falcon’s first of her career.
Walljasper gave up one hit in 4.0 innings, struck out one and walked three.
McNeese will return to Southland Conference action this weekend when the Cowgirls travel to Hammond to face Southeastern Louisiana in a three-game series. The series will begin with a 6 p.m. game on Friday and will conclude with a noon doubleheader on Saturday.
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No. 24/23 Texas A&M 13, Lamar 0 (5)
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – It's not often that one call can change the course of the game, especially in a 13-0 game. However, one of those game-changing calls seemed to go against the Lamar Lady Cardinals in Wednesday's nonconference game at Texas A&M as the23rd-ranked Aggies scored eight runs in the first inning after an apparent inning-ending double play was overturned in a 13-0 Texas A&M victory.
The Lady Cardinals (21-20) appeared to turn an inning ending double play in the first inning that would have kept the game scoreless. That wasn't the way home plate umpire Robert Perez saw things though, as he ruled catcher Brynn Baca was not on the plate when she took the throw from third baseman Sable Hankins before throwing to first baseman Marissa LeJune for the out at first.
The Lady Cards started to run off the field before they realized that the inning wasn't over. Two runs scored on that play as the Aggies (33-12) went on to score six more in the inning as Lamar seemed rattled by the play and could not recover.
All eight Texas A&M runs in the first inning were unearned against Lamar starter Laura Napoli (15-12). April Ryan capped the outburst with a grand slam.
Texas A&M starter Kacie Marks (12-1) was the beneficiary of the Aggie outburst. Marks needed just 51 pitches in the five-inning complete game, allowing two hits and striking out three. Sarah Ragsdale and Stephanie Meeuwsen each had an infield hit for the Lady Cardinals.
Cali Lanphear and Celena Massey also homered for Texas A&M.
The Lady Cardinals look to regroup this weekend as they host Central Arkansas in a three-game Southland Conference series. The teams play a single game at 5 p.m. Saturday and a doubleheader at 1 p.m.
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Texas State 12, Houston Baptist 0 (5)
SAN MARCOS, Texas – Texas State jumped to a 3-0 first-inning lead and never looked back as HBU fell to the Bobcats, 12-0 in five innings, Wednesday evening from Bobcat Softball Stadium.
Laci Belovsky (7-10) took the loss in the circle. Emily Mueller and Shannon O’Connor also saw action.
Kelli Baker was a home run away from the cycle, as she went 3-for-3 at the plate with an RBI and a run scored to lead Texas State (25-19). Kendall Wiley and Lexi Fryar had two hits apiece. Four different Bobcats had two RBIs.
Randi Rupp (17-12) earned the complete-game win, as she tossed her first-career perfect game, striking out nine in the process.
Texas State jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning, highlighted by a two-run double by Taylor Webb. The Bobcats broke the game open with a nine-run third.
Victoria Granchelli had the best chance to break up the no-hitter in the top of the fourth, but Fryar made a diving catch in left field.
HBU returns to Southland Conference play Friday and Saturday at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Friday’s doubleheader begins at 1 pm while Saturday’s single tilt starts at noon.
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