Softball: April 8 Scoreboard
Southland Conference
Sam Houston State 2, Houston 0
Lamar 13, Alcorn State 2 (5)
Lamar 18, Alcorn State 0 (5)
Southeastern Louisiana 20, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 3 (5)
Stephen F. Austin 7, Prairie View A&M 4
Abilene Christian 9, Hardin-Simmons 1 (5)
Abilene Christian 9, Hardin-Simmons 5
No. 22 South Alabama 11, Nicholls 7
Texas-Arlington 8, Central Arkansas 0 (5)
Texas-Arlington 2, Central Arkansas 1
Sam Houston State 2, Houston 0
HUNTSVILLE, Texas – Freshman pitcher Jordan Franks tossed her first collegiate shutout and senior first baseman Hillary Adams blasted her 39th career home run to power Sam Houston to a 2-0 non-conference softball victory over the University of Houston Wednesday night at the Bearkat Softball Complex.
Frank posted her second complete game performance, spreading four Cougar hits over seven innings. She struck out two of the 19 batters she faced. Frank now stands 4-5 for the season.
Adams led off the bottom of the fourth inning with a solo blast over the center field fence. The home run was the eighth of the season for the senior who ranks as Sam Houston softball’s all-time home run leader.
Right fielder Sarah Allison belted a single over the shortstop’s head to bring in the Bearkats’ first run in the bottom of the first inning. The hit scored catcher Tiffany Castillo who was safe on a fielder’s choice and moved to second on a single by first baseman Hillary Adams.
“That was a well-played game and a nice win for this team,” SHSU head coach Bob Brock said. “Our freshman pitcher had another really good game.”
The Cougars got only one of their six base runners to second base. Frank and the Bearkat defense retired the final nine Houston batters in succession.
Sam Houston upped its season record to 10-24 with the victory. Houston dropped to 19-20. The Bearkats return to Southland Conference action this weekend with a three-game series at Houston Baptist.
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Lamar 13, Alcorn State 2 (5)
Lamar 18, Alcorn State 0 (5)
BEAUMONT, Texas – The Lamar Lady Cardinals snapped out of their offensive doldrums in a big way Wednesday as they rolled to a doubleheader sweep of visiting Alcorn State by scores of 13-2 and 18-0 in a nonconference softball doubleheader. Both games were halted after the top of the fifth due to the run rule.
"Hopefully, this will give us some confidence going into this weekend at Texas AM-Corpus Christi," Lamar coach Holly Bruder said. "I'm really proud that everybody contributed. It wasn't just the starters. When the reserves got their chance, they came through."
Sable Hankins had the biggest day offensively for Lamar, going 3-for-6 with seven RBIs in the doubleheader. Hankins was 2-for-3 with a career-best five RBIs in the opener and followed that up by crushing a two-run home run in the nightcap, a blast that easily cleared the center-field fence.
Lamar had just five hits in the opener, but took advantage of 12 walks and six hit batters. Stephanie Meeuwsen drew three walks in the first game, while Casey Cromwell and Shannon Sain were each hit twice.
Laura Napoli (13-10) pitched all five innings for the win, allowing six hits and two runs, one earned. She struck out a career-high six batters.
"Laura didn't have her best stuff, but she battled," Bruder said.
After leaving the bases loaded without scoring in the first inning, the Lady Cardinals (19-18) scored three in the second, four in the third and six in the fourth inning.
Alexandra Harris went 3-for-3 with a solo home run for Alcorn State (2-23).
The Lady Cardinals wasted no time in the second game, scoring five runs in the first and seven more in the second to give starter Lauren Dannelley (6-8) more than enough support.
The Lady Cardinals rapped out 12 hits in the nightcap, with Sarah Ragsdale, Stephanie Meeuwsen, Brynn Baca, Morgan Buie and Baylie Comeaux getting two hits apiece. Katrina Mills added a double for her first career hit.
Dannelley allowed three hits over three innings to get the win. Amie Cisneros pitched two innings of hitless relief with two strikeouts to close things out.
"Lauren and Amie did a great job," Bruder said. "They didn't walk anybody and they came right at the hitters."
Lamar's Casey Cromwell reached base in all eight plate appearances on the day. Cromwell was 1-for-1 with four walks and was hit by a pitch three times.
The Lady Cardinals head to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi for a three-game Southland Conference series this weekend. The teams play a doubleheader at 1 p.m. Friday and a single game at noon Saturday. The Lady Cardinals enter the weekend in fifth place in the conference with a 10-5 record. The Islander s are seventh with a 7-8 mark with 12 conference games remaining. The top six teams qualify for next month's conference tournament at Northwestern State.
Following the weekend series in Corpus Christi, Lamar is at Texas A&M for a non-conference game at Texas A&M on April 15 before returning home to host Central Arkansas in a three-game Southland Conference series on April 17 and April 18.
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Southeastern Louisiana 20, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 3 (5)
PINE BLUFF, Ark. – The Southeastern Louisiana softball team set a single-game school record for runs and hits in a 20-3 victory over Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Wednesday afternoon at the Torii Hunter Baseball, Softball and Little League Complex.
Southeastern (18-18) made liberal use of its bench, as 12 different Lady Lions accounted for its single-game school record 22 hits. SLU scored multiple runs in every inning on the way to its fourth straight victory, dropping Arkansas-Pine Bluff to 6-25 overall.
Freshman outfielder Kinsey Nichols led SLU with two home runs and five RBI, while junior outfielder Katie Lacour was a perfect 4-for-4 with four runs scored. Senior infielder Megan Moore added three hits and three RBI, while freshman catcher Carlie Whittington, sophomore outfielder Sloan Jenkins and freshman infielder Grace DeLee had two hits apiece.
DeLee also drove in two runs, while Jenkins, freshman infielder Sydney Booker, junior designated player Amber Sather, sophomore catcher Lacey Fritz, freshman infielder Peyton Stokes-Sutton and senior second baseman Vanessa Eng all had an RBI apiece.
Lacour led SLU with her four runs scored, while Nichols scored three runs. Moore, Sather, Jenkins and senior first baseman Teresa Lemos scored two runs apiece, while Booker, Whittington, DeLee, freshman outfielder Shelby Stewart and junior outfielder Amanda Livaudais each scored a run.
In the circle, senior Spencer Adkinson (2-4) earned the win by pitching the first three innings. Junior Madison Vige’ pitched shutout relief in the final two innings. UAPB scratched a run across in the bottom of the first inning, then added two more in the top of the third inning on a home run by Page Garcia.
SLU scored two runs in the first, added three more in the second, then scored five runs each in the next three innings. Hailey Forbes (3-10) went the distance for UAPB, allowing 17 earned runs and walking seven.
The 20 runs scored topped the previous single-game school record of 19 set versus Grambling on Feb. 16, 2008. The 22 hits were the most by the SLU program in a game, besting the previous standard of 21 versus Jackson State on March 29, 2006.
Southeastern will continue its road trip this week, facing Central Arkansas in a three-game series. The series opens with a 4 p.m. doubleheader on Friday and concludes with an 11 a.m. single game on Saturday.
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Stephen F. Austin 7, Prairie View A&M 4
NACOGDOCHES, Texas – The Stephen F. Austin softball team showed a lot of fight on Wednesday afternoon at SFA Softball Field, using a five-run fifth inning to complete a big rally and defeat Prairie View A&M 7-4 in midweek non-conference action. With the win, the Ladyjacks improve to 12-26 overall on the season, including a 4-3 mark at home.
The Ladyjacks came out flat, allowing four unearned runs on four hits and three errors in the first inning to fall into an early 4-0 hole. The brand of play would improve drastically both offensively and defensively over the course of the game.
SFA threatened to put a big number on the board in the second inning after loading the bases with just one out, but had to settle for a single run. Autumn Holloway laid down a bunt single to lead off the frame and moved to third after Shalie Day walked and Taylor Fraccastoro was hit by a pitch. Holloway eventually scored on a passed ball to make it 4-1 in favor of PVAMU.
Fraccastoro took advantage of another miscue between pitcher and catcher in the fourth inning, scoring on a wild pitch.
The Ladyjacks put the game away in the fifth by scoring five runs on three hits and two errors. The inning was highlighted by RBI triples off the bats of Lindsay Campbell and Fraccastoro. Day also drove in a run during the scoring frenzy on a single to centerfield while Cassidy Ivy and Heather Hollingsworth were credited with RBIs after executing sacrifice squeeze plays.
When the dust settled, SFA had the 7-4 advantage – a cushion it kept for the remainder of the afternoon.
The new look to the bottom of SFA’s order was efficient as Day and Fraccastoro combined to go 3-for-4 with three runs and two RBI from the 8-9 holes.
After the Lady Panthers (5-20) scored four unearned runs in the first, starter Hannah Welch settled in for a nice outing in the circle. The junior tossed 5.2 innings, allowed nine hits and struck out three. She earned the win to improve to 3-3 on the year.
Callee Guffey was lights out to close the game for SFA, relieving Welch in the sixth inning. With only four outs needed to preserve the win, Guffey fanned three of four batters faced in perfect relief. The tidy 1.1 innings of work warranted Guffey’s first save of the year.
SFA will return to Southland Conference action this weekend against Abilene Christian on Friday and Saturday for a three-game series. The Wildcats and Ladyjacks will open up with a doubleheader on Friday at 4:00 p.m. and conclude the set starting at noon on Saturday. Games will be played in Abilene.
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Abilene Christian 9, Hardin-Simmons 1 (5)
Abilene Christian 9, Hardin-Simmons 5
ABILENE, Texas – Abilene Christian softball collected 18 runs on 17 hits, played tremendous defense and received 11.0 solid innings of work from junior pitcher Julia Montoya during its 9-1 and 9-5 victories over neighboring Hardin-Simmons Wednesday night at Poly Wells Field.
"The whole team did a great job ... and it's always good to win no matter who you play," said head coach Bobby Reeves. "We had our struggles last weekend but hopefully tonight's results will carry us into the weekend now that we have a good taste in our mouth."
The Wildcats and starting pitcher Emily Seidel survived a rocky first inning in game one as the Cowgirls left the bases loaded, but after the senior allowed HSU to jam them once more in the second Reeves called Montoya in from the bullpen.
And she completely baffled the Cowgirls from then until the end of the game.
Entering the game with the score tied a 1-1 and no outs, Montoya got No. 2 batter Sydnie Darden to pop up on the infield. The next batter Keagan Jiminez then lined out to left fielder Melissa Rodriguez, but the runner at third base - Katelyn Joyner - never budged toward home plate. And with two outs, Montoya recorded the second of her eight fly outs by getting Kara LeLeux to loft one up to Peyton Hedrick at shortstop.
HSU's Braleigh Middleton singled down the left-field line to begin the third, but that would be the only hit allowed by Montoya in game one as she proceeded to retire the final nine batters of the ball game with four strikeouts mixed in - and she did it all on just 37 pitches though 4.0 innings.
"What we always talk to our pitchers about first is getting strike one," said Reeves, "and once we do that then we're going to start throwing our pitches, spinning it and hitting our spots. Julia did a great job throwing both games, got the pop ups when she needed them, and kept runners off base."
Montoya was equally efficient throughout her game two start (85 pitches) and was the recipient of some outstanding defensive plays. Her teammates turned a 6-3-5 double play with a runner at second base in the first, and in the following inning Taylor Brown threw Middleton out at second base from the center-field wall.
Right fielder Brianna Barnhill showed off her arm in the third, throwing designated player Alexis Vines out at first base, and in the fifth left fielder Melissa Rodriguez robbed Keagan Jiminez of a run-scoring, extra-base hit.
Middleton was rejected once again in the sixth after a fly to shallow center field popped off the glove of Hedrick and into the mitt of Brown.
"They all worked real hard on their defensive drills this week," said Reeves. "I was very pleased with their workouts and even though they got tired they still fought through it to make some great plays tonight and only make one error."
Offensively, seven of ACU's 17 hits went for extra bases as Hedrick set a new individual single-game record with three triples in game two. The old record of two was originally set by Teela Clark in February of 1997 when the Wildcats totaled three triples vs. Texas-Permian Basin.
But tonight ACU finished the second game with four triples and had five between both contests with the other two coming off the bat of Brown, who now has seven on the spring.
Hedrick ripped her first triple to center field in the first inning off Genia Jones to score Brown, and made it a 2-0 game one batter later on Holly Neese's ground ball to the shortstop.
The score stayed that way until the fourth when Lauren Williams tied the game on a two-run shot to straightaway center with two outs.
The Wildcats, however, were quick to respond with five runs in the bottom half of that inning. ACU put its first two runners on and broke the tie with one out on a single up the middle by Baylee Travers, and pinch hitter Kaleigh Singleton followed with a shot down the left-field line.
Travers' pinch runner Tori Valdivia made it a 5-2 game hustling home on Demi McNulty's groundball to short and then Brown and Hedrick socked back-to-back triples to the wall in right-center field.
The Wildcats tacked on two insurance runs between the fifth and sixth innings with Hedrick scoring the final run on a wild pitch by reliever Lara Ammermann after she belted her third triple in four at-bats.
"I thought we swung the bats well and had some big innings offensively," said Reeves. "And when you see how many triples we ended up with that tells me we're hitting the ball right on the nose."
HSU made things a little interesting in its final at-bat in the seventh, scoring one run on a squeeze bunt by Darden and two on a home run by Jiminez.
In game one as Montoya was cruising, the Wildcats broke their 1-1 tie with the Cowgirls during a four-run third inning in which they sent nine batters to the plate against 10-game winner Tori Rodriguez.
Hedrick delivered the go-ahead run on a ground ball to third and Neese followed with one of her two RBI base hits. ACU soon again loaded the bases with one out and got two more runs across on a hit by pitch and sacrifice fly to center.
The Wildcats scored twice in the fourth to push their lead to 7-1. And after Brown tripled home Rodriguez in the fifth, she scored the game-ending run on a wild pitch by Rodriguez.
The Wildcats return to action Friday at 4 p.m. for the start of a three-game series vs. Stephen F. Austin. ACU and the Ladyjacks play a doubleheader Friday and single game Saturday at noon.
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No. 22 South Alabama 11, Nicholls 7
MOBILE, Ala. – Brooke Morris and Haley Parkerson combined for seven hits and five RBIs against No. 22 South Alabama, but the rest of the lineup was held to just one hit as the Colonels fell, 9-7, in non-conference action on Wednesday night at Jaguar Field.
Nicholls (22-15) and South Alabama (28-7) slugged it out in the first two innings as USA held a slim 5-4 lead. The Jaguars would score two runs each in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings to take an 11-4 advantage before Nicholls pieced together a late three-run rally in the seventh.
Morris paced Nicholls at the plate, going 4-for-4 with three RBIs. The sophomore preseason All-Southland honoree has been on a terror over the last 10 games, batting .457 with eight runs scored and six RBIs. Parkerson finished 3-for-4 at the leadoff spot and Jessica Taylor accounted for the other hit.
Jackie Johnson (5-7) took the loss, going 4.0 innings with seven earned runs on seven hits and walked five. Taylor Hastings pitched 0.2 innings and Hannah Haydel tossed 1.1, with both giving up two earned runs.
The Colonels struck first when Parkerson led off the game with a double and Morris brought her home on a single. But the Jaguars tagged Johnson for four runs on four hits in the bottom of the inning, highlighted by a two-run double by Kaitlyn Griffith.
Nicholls quickly answered with three runs in the second, started by a two-run double from Parkerson. Two batters later, Morris singled to center, driving Parkerson home to make the score 4-4. However, USA would retake the lead in the bottom half on an infield single by Stephanie Pilkington.
In the fourth, the Jaguars took advantage of three walks to push their lead to 7-4. A solo home run and a bases loaded walk in the fifth stretched the lead to 9-4, and in the sixth, a two-run double by Emily Messer made the score 11-4.
In the seventh, Nicholls scored three runs, one on a single by Morris and a two-run error, to make the final.
USA finished with 10 hits, led by Messer and Amanda Minahan with three each. Farish Beard (6-2) was tabbed with the win, tossing 4.0 innings with four earned runs on five hits. Kalen McGill earned a save, allowing one earned run on three hits in 3.0 innings. The duo combined for 12 strikeouts and just two walks.
Nicholls will return to action this weekend at UIW for a three-game series. The teams will play a doubleheader on Friday at 1 p.m., with a single game on Saturday scheduled for 1 p.m. as well.
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Texas-Arlington 8, Central Arkansas 0 (5)
Texas-Arlington 2, Central Arkansas 1
ARLINGTON, Texas – The Central Arkansas Bears traveled to Arlington, Texas on Wednesday to play a doubleheader against former Southland Conference foe UT-Arlington. UCA struggled to get much going offensively on the day, managing just one run as they fell 8-0 and 2-1.
In the day's first game, Central Arkansas (24-14) was no-hit, managing just one base runner in five innings. The Mavericks (24-18) put up one run in the first, six in the fourth, and one more in the fifth to secure the run-rule win.
Kylee Studioso (19-8) took the loss for the Bears, allowing seven runs on five hits and five walks while striking out four in four innings. Kayla Gomness threw two-thirds of an inning, allowing a run on two hits. Sam Montes (12-10) went the distance to earn the win for UTA, allowing a single walk over five innings.
The Bears struck in the second inning of the day's second game, taking a 1-0 lead when third baseman Sam Forrest picked up an RBI groundout to drive in shortstop Hayley Parker.
The lead would hold until the sixth inning, when UTA got an RBI double from right fielder Shelbi Sikes and a run-scoring single from designate player Mya Anderson.
Shivaun Landeros (4-6) took the hard-luck loss for UCA, allowing five hits and two runs over 5.2 innings. She struck out two and didn't issue any walks. Studioso retired the final batter of the sixth inning. Taylor Simmonds (6-2) earned the win for the Mavericks, limiting the Bears to a run on eight hits and a walk while striking out two in six innings. Montes worked a scoreless seventh, striking out one to earn the save.
Central Arkansas returns to league play this weekend, hosting Southeastern Louisiana at Farris Field. The Bears and Lady Lions will play a doubleheader beginning Friday at 4:00 PM before closing out the series with a single game at 11:00 AM on Saturday.
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