ABILENE - Abilene Christian's 19th-ranked softball team briefly returns to non-conference play this Wednesday at Poly Wells Field when it welcomes St. Mary's of the Heartland Conference for a 2 p.m. doubleheader.
The Wildcats (15-4, 3-2 Lone Star Conference) are 3-3 over their last six games since starting the year 12-1, and recently split a rain shortened two-game series vs. Texas Woman's. The Pioneers came from behind to beat ACU, 4-3, in game one, but lost the nightcap, 11-7.
The split decision dropped the Wildcats to fourth place at 3-2, 1.0 game behind third-place TWU, and 2.5 behind 6-0 co-leaders Angelo State and Tarleton State.
Despite surrendering 11 runs to the Pioneers, the Wildcats still maintain the conference's lowest earned-run average at 2.14 and have all three of their starters ranked among the top 10 in this category. Junior
Caitlyn Crain (8-1) is second in the league with a 1.89 ERA, junior
Shelby Hall (3-0) is third at 2.13, and sophomore
Peyton Mosley (4-3) is eighth at 2.69.
ACU batted .333 as a team vs. TWU led by
Kimberly Briggs who compiled a .667 batting average, 1.167 slugging percentage, and .750 on-base percentage. She also delivered her second round-tripper of the year as part of back-to-back home runs with
Sara Vaughn in the fifth inning of Sunday's game two.
Briggs' performances raised her season batting average to .415, which ranks eighth in the LSC. Junior outfielder
Keanna Winkfield is fifth with 11 stolen bases.
Vaughn's home run was her third of the year, keeping her tied with
Megan Brigance and
Lyndi Smith for the team lead. Brigance and Smith also went deep against Texas Woman's.
St. Mary's begins the week at 14-10 and are in the midst of a six-game stretch against Lone Star Conference opponents. The Rattlers last week split a twin bill with Kingsville, and will play host to Tarleton State Tuesday afternoon before making the drive to Abilene.
ACU will travel to St. Mary's next Wednesday, March 21 for a 1 p.m. doubleheader.
