ABILENE - Abilene Christian's 24th-ranked softball team completes the non-conference portion of its 2012 schedule with a 1 p.m. doubleheader scheduled for Wednesday at St. Mary's. The Wildcats and Rattlers also met a week ago in Abilene, where ACU won both games in walk-off fashion by scores of 7-6 and 2-1.
Both teams resumed conference play this past weekend in which the Wildcats (18-6, 4-4 LSC) lost two of three at second-place Tarleton State, while the Rattlers (17-14, 2-1 HC) won their Heartland Conference series opener vs. Oklahoma Panhandle State.
Rattler first baseman Taylor Vidrine, who went 1 for 7 vs. the Wildcats with a three-run home run, went on to homer four more times vs. Oklahoma Panhandle to earn her conference's hitter of the week title. Vidrine - a two-time winner of the weekly citation - finished the week with 10 RBI, 10 runs, four stolen bases, .476 batting average, and slugging percentage of 1.316.
The Wildcats, meanwhile, were paced at the plate by junior third baseman
Kimberly Briggs, who swatted four home runs last week in raising her team-leading total to six. She also leads ACU with 27 RBI and ranks eighth in the Lone Star Conference with a .412 batting average.
Briggs' first round-tripper of the week tied the score at 6-6 in game one of the St. Mary's doubleheader, completing ACU's comeback from an early 7-2 deficit. She hit three more home runs over the final two games at Tarleton State, first slugging a game-tying shot in the fifth inning of game two, and then delivering a pair of two-run jacks as part of a 3 for 4 game-three performance.
Courtney Flanary also went deep for the second time this year, hammering a solo shot in the seventh inning of game three that helped seal the Wildcats' 7-2 victory.
Peyton Mosley earned her second win of the week following the Saturday game at Tarleton and came within one out of pitching her third complete game shutout of 2012. Unfortunately, the TexAnns were able to push two across in their final at bat after the centerfielder dropped a fly ball with two outs. Mosley, however, responded with a strikeout - her sixth of the day - of Samantha Swanda to end the game.
Mosley won her first game last week as a reliever in game two vs. St. Mary's. Coming into a 1-1 game with no outs and runners at first and second, Mosley recorded the first out on a sacrifice, the second on a 3-2 fielder's choice, and the last on a fly ball to left. ACU went on to win the game on her behalf as the Wildcats quickly loaded the bases with one out followed by
Sara Vaughn's game-winning single to the right-center gap.
Vaughn is second on the team with 17 RBI.
Shelby Hall also pitched well for ACU vs. St. Mary's as both reliever and starter. Hall earned the victory in game one after dealing 4.1 innings of relief, in which she gave up just one earned run in allowing the Wildcats to mount their successful comeback on offense. She then started game two and surrendered just one run through 6.0 innings.
Hall's luck, however, wasn't as good against Tarleton State as she suffered her first loss of the year. Hall was tagged for seven runs (five earned) on 10 hits in game one, but her season ERA of 2.30 remains the third lowest in the conference.
Mosley claims the conference's fourth-lowest ERA at 2.32, while
Caitlyn Crain ranks eighth at 2.51.
