Softball: April 25 Scoreboard
Southland Conference
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 5, Abilene Christian 3
Central Arkansas 11, Houston Baptist 1 (5)
Northwestern State 4, Stephen F. Austin 2
Northwestern State 8, Stephen F. Austin 0 (5)
UIW 4, Sam Houston State 3
Southeastern Louisiana 1, Nicholls 0 (B2), Postponed (Weather)
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 5, Abilene Christian 3
ABILENE, Texas – Brittney Morse delivered a go-ahead grand slam in the top of the sixth inning to lift the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi softball team to a 5-3 victory over Abilene Christian on Saturday. The Islanders improved to 12-11 in Southland Conference play with one weekend remaining in the regular season.
A&M-Corpus Christi sits in sixth place, holding the final slot in the Southland Tournament, pending the outcome of this weekend's action involving Stephen F. Austin and Nicholls. The Ladyjacks had their opening game on Friday suspended after one inning, while the Colonels moved back their series to Saturday-Sunday due to inclement weather.
Morse went 1-for-3 in the contest, with her only hit being her second grand slam in the last four games, as she also delivered one against Texas State on Wednesday. The sophomore went 7-for-12 this week with three home runs, three doubles and 11 RBI.
Liz Carter went the distance in the circle, allowing seven hits and two walks in her seven innings, notching a pair of strikeouts and surrendering three runs. Emily Seidel also went the distance in a losing effort for ACU, surrendering eight hits and five runs in seven innings.
Dani Tefft went 3-for-3 for the Islanders offensively, while Mickayla Cochran also delivered two hits in the win. Taylor Brown had a two-hit game for the Wildcats, while Peyton Hedrick hit a two-run homer for ACU as well.
For the third time in as many games, A&M-Corpus Christi was the first to crack the scoreboard. Lindsey Lyles led off the third by being hit by a pitch, and Tefft followed with an infield single to put two on and nobody out. After a sac bunt, Mackinzee Griebel lined a ball to right center, but was robbed of extra bases on a running catch by Brianna Barnhill. Nonetheless, Lyles was able to tag up and score the first run of the game, giving the visitors a 1-0 lead.
Carter was cruising on the other side, rolling through the first 2 2/3 innings with the only blemish against her a well-placed bloop single. But the Wildcats rallied with two down in the third, with Brown slicing a two-out triple to deep left. Hedrick followed and lined a ball down the right-field line, and it narrowly cleared the fence and bent around the foul pole for a two-run homer and a 2-1 ACU advantage.
The Wildcats manufactured another run in the bottom of the fourth, as Holly Neese beat out and infield single, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and advanced to third on a groundout. Alyson Bishoff followed with a single up the middle, plating Neese to make it 3-1.
The score remained that way until the top of the sixth, when Morse came through for the Islanders. Prior to Morse's big fly, it was small ball that started the frame, with Cosette Hernandez singling up the middle and Griebel registering an infield single on a slow chopper to short. Cochran followed with a chopper back to the pitcher, but used her hustle to beat out an infield single and load the bases. Morse got ahead in the count 3-0, took a strike and obliterated the 3-1 offering through the wind and off the scoreboard for a grand slam and a 5-3 Islanders edge.
Carter worked her way around a single and a walk in the sixth, closing out the inning with a strikeout and a popout. Then in the seventh, she sent the Wildcats down in order with two groundouts and a foulout to end the game and give the Islanders the series.
The Islanders will return to action next weekend, as they wrap up the regular season with a three-game series against Incarnate Word at Chapman Field. The two teams will play a single game on Friday at 3 p.m., with a doubleheader slated for Senior Day on Saturday starting at noon.
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Central Arkansas 11, Houston Baptist 1 (5)
HOUSTON, Texas – The Central Arkansas softball Bears had to wait out the weather in Houston, Texas on Saturday, but once they were able to take the field they exploded, run-ruling the Houston Baptist Huskies 11-1 in five innings.
Central Arkansas (31-16, 16-5 SLC) opened the game by loading the bases with singles from third baseman Sam Forrest, right fielder Briana Whisenhunt, and second baseman Sarah Bigej, before catcher Jessie Taylor tied the UCA single-season RBI record by driving in her 49th run of the season with a sacrifice fly to center field. Left fielder Hannah Stirton ripped a single to center field to push the UCA lead to 2-0, before designated player Audrey Pratt drove a two-run single up the middle to make it 4-0. Pratt would later come in to score on a single from first baseman Ashley Boswell to cap the inning's scoring with the Bears leading 5-0.
The Bears tacked on a run on an RBI single to left from Stirton in the second and a run-scoring double from Forrest in the third before putting up another crooked number in the fourth, highlighted by RBI from Stirton and pinch hitter Brianna McArthur and a run-scoring throwing error.
Houston Baptist (12-29, 5-17 SLC) got a run back in the bottom of the fourth, but Whisenhunt would score on a throwing error in the fifth to end the game's scoring.
Forrest and Stirton each tallied three hits on the day, with Forrest scoring a pair of runs and Stirton driving in three.
Kylee Studioso (24-10) picked up the complete game win, limiting the Huskies to a run on three hits and two walks while striking out three.
The Bears will play their final series of the regular season next weekend, and it looks to be a big one. Central Arkansas, who is currently ranked second in the SLC, will host McNeese State, the third-ranked team in the league, for a three game set. The Bears and Cowgirls will play a doubleheader beginning at 1:00 PM on Saturday before closing out the regular season with a single game at 11:00 AM on Sunday.
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Northwestern State 4, Stephen F. Austin 2
Northwestern State 8, Stephen F. Austin 0 (5)
NACOGDOCHES, Texas – At 5-foot-2, Northwestern State second baseman Micayla Sorosiak is not towering in stature but don’t think that is a reflection of her home run power.
The Lady Demons launched seven dingers on the day, led by three from Sorosiak, to sweep a doubleheader at Stephen F. Austin, 4-2 and 8-0 on Saturday from the SFA Softball Field.
“She’s been coming around little by little the last couple games,” seventh-year head coach Donald Pickett said. “She was struggling there for a little while and it’s been good to see her come out of it. She and Landry add a lot to our lineup. Landry had a big home run in the first game to get us going. Sorosiak had good at-bats all day long.”
The Lady Demons need two more wins with four games remaining to clinch the Southland Conference regular season title outright for the first time since 2000.
The wins propelled NSU to 30-15 overall and 19-2 in Southland Conference play while SFA fell to 18-28 and 10-12 in league action.
In the circle, Mikayla Brown (9-2) and Micaela Bouvier (12-4) each went the distance. Brown, the Game 1 starter, was masterful, striking out six SFA hitters. The righty allowed five hits and one earned run, seeing her earned run-streak come to an end at 27 innings. Bouvier was equally as impressive, allowing just five hits while blanking the Ladyjacks.
“They did a really good job getting ahead, challenging hitters and they were confident in what they were doing,” Pickett said. “They got a lot of popups today and our defense made a lot of plays behind them.”
NSU notched a pair of three-run frames in Game 2. Brittney Jones led off the fourth with a home run followed by a Sorosiak bomb two hitters later. Later, Sidney Salmans singled up the middle to plate Kaytie Proctor.
In the sixth, Sorosiak notched her third long ball of the day. After Hailee Rhodes walked, Salmans doubled to left center. Virgoe brought home Rhodes on a sacrifice fly to left and Kincannon doubled to left center to score Salmans and push the lead to 7-0.
One inning later, Jones launched her second homer of the game to provide the final insurance run.
In Game 1, the squads resumed play in the second inning, where they left off following a postponement from lightning on Friday. The second batter of the frame, Natalie Landry, launched a solo jack, the seventh of her season to give NSU the early lead.
Two innings later, following a Landry single to right, Sorosiak drilled her 10th jack of the season, a towering shot down the left field line. Brittany Virgoe added her seventh of the season one frame later to up the lead to 4-0.
SFA starter Callee Guffey (10-12) drew the loss in Game 1, tossing the complete-game, allowing six hits and four runs while striking out five and walking two. The Ladyjacks’ Heather Hollingsworth finished 2-for-4 at the plate and drove in a run.
In Game 2, Mikayla Sikes (3-11) picked up the loss, tossing 3 1-3 innings, allowing five hits and three earned runs. Hollingsworth posted a pair of hits, finishing 2-for-3 at the plate.
The squads close out the three-game set on Sunday at 1 p.m.
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UIW 4, Sam Houston State 3
SAN ANTONIO, Texas – The University of the Incarnate Word softball team honored their five seniors prior to Saturday's Southland Conference game against visiting Sam Houston State and then held on to win, 4-3 at Cardinals Field.
The Cardinals (10-36, 4-20) never trailed in the game, but things got sticky in the seventh inning. Senior Brooke DuBois (Pearland/Pearland HS) started the game in the circle for UIW and tossed six solid innings. She went out for the top of the seventh to try to get a complete game, but after the first two runners reached base Kristin Hebert (Humble/Atascocita HS) was called upon to get the save. With runners on first and third, Hebert induced a pop out and then a ground out that prevented the lead runner from trying to score. Finally, she got Meme Quinn to hit a one hopper right back to her and she threw to first to secure the win.
DuBois allowed five hits, one earned run and four walks while striking out two as she picked up her fifth win of the season. Hebert retired all three batters she faced to notch the team's first save of the season.
The Cardinals scored twice in the second and twice in the fourth innings and never trailed the Bearkats (17-26, 8-14). Shelbi Swenson (Elgin/Elgin HS) went 2-for-3 with a double, an RBI and a run scored while DuBois was 2-for-2 with a run scored and an RBI at the plate. Natali Duron (Pasadena/Pasadena Memorial HS) had a single, drove in a run and scored a run while Mikaela Flores (Lockhart/Lockhart HS) had a pinch-hit RBI single.
Jessica Slater and Dani Allen led the Bearkats offense with two hits apiece. Slater had a double, scored twice and had two stolen bases while Allen had two hits and drove in a run. Tayler Atkinson was tagged with the loss after allowing six hits and two earned runs in 3.0 innings.
The Cardinals are back in action on Wednesday at home. They will play a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. against Prairie View A&M.
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Southeastern Louisiana 1, Nicholls 0 (B2), Postponed (Weather)
THIBODAUX, La. – Mother Nature again played havoc with the Southeastern Louisiana softball team’s series at Nicholls on Saturday.
The two teams started play on Saturday with SLU taking a 1-0 lead into the bottom of the second inning. At that point, lightning forced the teams to clear the field and moments later, heavy rains hit the Thibodaux area leaving the field unplayable for Saturday.
The suspended game will resume on Sunday at 12 p.m. The teams will complete the series 30 minutes following the conclusion of the suspended game.
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