ACU eliminated from tournament
ACU falls to SE Oklahoma State, Midwestern State
IRVING -- Abilene Christian's softball season might have come to an end Saturday when the Wildcats were eliminated from the Lone Star Conference Post-Season Tournament with a 4-3 loss to Midwestern State.
The Wildcats, now 30-20 on the season, entered the tournament as the No. 6 team in the NCAA Division II South Central Region and clinging to the final spot in next month's regiona tournament. ACU, however, lost to No. 7 Southeastern Oklahoma State, 5-4, on Thursday, its third loss of the season to the Lady Savages.
ACU went 0-2 in the conference tournament while the Lady Savages were 2-2 before being eliminated Friday afternoon. Southeastern's 3-1 record vs. ACU could be enough to push the Lady Savages past ACU and into the No. 6 spot in the regional poll. ACU has never earned a berth in the regional softball tournament. The next poll -- which should tell the tale of the Wildcats' season -- will be released late Wednesday afternoon.
Central Oklahoma is in commanding position to win the conference title on Saturday. Midwestern State will take on Angelo State in an 11 a.m. elimination game with the winner having to knock off UCO twice to keep the Lady Bronchos from winning the title. The championship game is set for 1 p.m. with the "what-if" game set for thirty minutes after if UCO loses at 1 p.m. The winner of the conference tournament will earn an automatic bid to the regional tournament.
The Wildcats were shut down by two of the LSC's top pitching staffs in SE Oklahoma State and Midwestern State. ACU scored just seven runs in 14 innings of softball after scoring 27 in a four-game series against Angelo State last weekend.
ACU never led in the tournament, including in Friday's elimination game loss to Midwestern State. The Lady Indians took a 2-0 lead after the first, but the Wildcats got one run back in the first inning on senior Katie Bryan's 16the home run of the season. Daisy Barcena had an RBI single in the second inning to cut the MSU lead to 3-2.
But Midwestern State scored another run in the fifth to make it 4-2. Jade Wilson had an RBI triple in the sixth, but in the seventh inning, the Wildcats left Claudia Stephens stranded at second base when Danielle Faulk and J.D. Doty each flew out to centerfield to end the game.
In Thursday's 4-3 loss to SE Oklahoma State, the Wildcats fell behind 5-0 after the top of the fourth inning before ACU began to rally. The Wildcats picked up two runs in the fourth inning on a two-run single for Ashley Whittenberg, and then got two more in the fifth inning on an RBI triple by Faulk, who then scored the fourth run on a wild pitch.
Faulk then kept ACU alive in the bottom of the seventh with a two-out double, but Heather Krumpols struck out swining to end the game.
ACU junior Jennifer Leal took the loss in both games to fall to 21-11 on the season.
