ACU moves into LSC final
4/29/2006 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Wildcats move into LSC final
ACU to face Midwestern State in championship game
IRVING -- Jennifer Leal fired a four-hit shutout Saturday afternoon to lead the ACU Wildcats to a 2-0 win over Southeastern Oklahoma State in an elimination game at the Lone Star Conference Post-Season Softball Tournament, pushing the Wildcats into Sunday's championship game at Southwest Park.
The Wildcats -- 40-16 overall and ranked No. 2 in the NCAA Division II South Central Region and No. 15 in the nation -- will play the region's No. 1-ranked team, Midwestern State, at 1 p.m. An ACU win would force the if-necessary championship game, while a Mustang win would give MSU the championship.
ACU lost to the Mustangs, 5-1, earlier Saturday to force the Wildcats into the loser's bracket against the Savage Storm. In the elimination game, the two teams battled through three scoreless innings before the Wildcats finally broke through with a pair of runs.
With one out in the fourth inning, ACU head coach Chantiel Wilson sent Amber Jankowski to the plate to pinch-hit for Claudia Stephens, and she promptly drilled a two-run home run to centerfield to give the Wildcats a 2-0 lead.
Leal made that lead stand up the rest of the way as she worked out of a pair of jams in the late innings. SOSU had runners reach as far as third base in both the fifth and seventh innings, but Leal worked out of both jams. The Savage Storm had runners at first and second with two outs in the seventh inning, but Leal got the leadoff batter to ground out to end the game.
In the Wildcats' loss to Midwestern State, Sarah Huddleston's run-scoring single in the fourth inning gave the Mustangs their first lead of the game, and they piled on three more runs in the fifth to claim a 5-1 win.
MSU starter Brittany Willson scattered nine hits and allowed just a solo home run in the second inning to ACU's Samantha Borgeson.
The Wildcats -- 40-16 overall and ranked No. 2 in the NCAA Division II South Central Region and No. 15 in the nation -- will play the region's No. 1-ranked team, Midwestern State, at 1 p.m. An ACU win would force the if-necessary championship game, while a Mustang win would give MSU the championship.
ACU lost to the Mustangs, 5-1, earlier Saturday to force the Wildcats into the loser's bracket against the Savage Storm. In the elimination game, the two teams battled through three scoreless innings before the Wildcats finally broke through with a pair of runs.
With one out in the fourth inning, ACU head coach Chantiel Wilson sent Amber Jankowski to the plate to pinch-hit for Claudia Stephens, and she promptly drilled a two-run home run to centerfield to give the Wildcats a 2-0 lead.
Leal made that lead stand up the rest of the way as she worked out of a pair of jams in the late innings. SOSU had runners reach as far as third base in both the fifth and seventh innings, but Leal worked out of both jams. The Savage Storm had runners at first and second with two outs in the seventh inning, but Leal got the leadoff batter to ground out to end the game.
In the Wildcats' loss to Midwestern State, Sarah Huddleston's run-scoring single in the fourth inning gave the Mustangs their first lead of the game, and they piled on three more runs in the fifth to claim a 5-1 win.
MSU starter Brittany Willson scattered nine hits and allowed just a solo home run in the second inning to ACU's Samantha Borgeson.
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