No. 24 Wildcats Lose Two At Tarleton State

STEPHENVILLE, Texas - Abilene Christian's No. 24 softball team lost consecutive games for the first time all season, while Tarleton State remained atop the Lone Star Conference standings at 8-0 following its doubleheader sweep of the Wildcats Friday night, winning by scores of 7-1 and 6-4.

The losses drop ACU's overall and conference marks to 17-6 and 3-4. The TexAnns improved to 23-8 and 8-0.

Tarleton was led in game one by its ace Samantha Swanda, who struck out nine and hit a two-run home run as part of her complete-game victory. The Wildcats scored their lone run against Swanda in the third when Keanna Winkfield singled home Madison Buckley.

Shelby Hall (4-1) suffered her first loss of the year after giving up seven runs (five earned) on 10 hits, including two home runs.

Tarleton continued to slug the ball early in game two, and had blasted three home runs in two innings off starter Caitlyn Crain before she was pulled in favor of Peyton Mosley. Katie Welborn and Swanda hit back-to-back solo shots in the first and then Amber Sotelo drilled a two-run bomb in the second to build a 4-0 TexAnn lead.

ACU, however, erased that deficit behind a pair of runs in the third and fifth innings. Three consecutive walks issued by Tarleton starter Randi Fentress brought home the first two runs. Junior Kimberly Briggs then tied the game with a two-run shot, which was her team-leading fourth of the year.

The tie did not last long after Mosley (5-4) surrendered Welborn's third home run of the night  - a two-run shot that put Tarleton ahead for good at 6-4.

Welborn finished the twin bill a perfect 5 for 5 with five RBI and four runs.

The series between ACU and Tarleton concludes Saturday at 12 p.m.

###

Tarleton 7, Abilene Christian 1 (Mar 16, 2012 at Stephenville, TX) (Game 1)
---------------------------------------------------------------------