ABILENE - The Abilene Christian softball team concludes its six-game homestand this weekend with a three-game series vs. Lone Star Conference foe and 19th-ranked West Texas A&M. Games begin Friday at 5 p.m. and Saturday at 1 p.m.
Saturday's game at Poly Wells Field will be broadcast live via the ACU Sports page at
YoeTV.org.
The Wildcats enter the weekend with a 20-9 overall record and 6-5 mark against the Lone Star Conference, a half game behind the Lady Buffs (22-10, 7-5 LSC) for fourth place. Angelo State and Tarleton State remain tied for the league lead at 10-2 with Texas Woman's right behind them in third at 9-2.
ACU is coming off an up-and-down series vs. Texas A&M-Kingsville in which it won the first two games 4-2 and 1-0 before dropping the finale, 12-7. Eleven of the 12 Javelina runs were scored between the fourth and fifth innings as they erased an early 5-1 deficit with the help of several Wildcat errors.
ACU finished the week with nine errors that ultimately led to eight unearned runs and dropped its season fielding percentage to .956.
Wildcat pitching, however, remains strong with all three starters ranking among the league's top 10 in earned-run average.
Peyton Mosley (7-5) is second in the LSC with a 2.21 ERA,
Caitlyn Crain is fourth (2.41), and
Shelby Hall is sixth (2.56).
Crain's 1-0 shutout of Kingsville was her second of the season, as she finished with a season high eight strikeouts.
Standout performances at the plate were turned in last week by
Keanna Winkfield (.444, three runs, two stolen bases),
Courtney Flanary (.400, four runs, two RBI), and
Sara Vaughn (.353, home run, two stolen bases). Flanary drove in the game-winning RBI in the 1-0 win vs. Kingsville, while
Kimberly Briggs drove in two during game one of the series.
Winkfield remains one of the LSC's top base stealers with 15.
West Texas A&M comes to Abilene riding high after taking two of three games from No. 1 Angelo State last weekend in Canyon. Marci Womack won the Lone Star Conference's Pitcher of the Week Award after going 2-0 in the circle against the Rambelles with eight strikeouts. She blanked Angelo State 2-0 on seven hits in game one, and then held on to win 4-3 in series finale thanks to a three-run home run from senior catcher Meghan Brown.
Brown ranks third in the LSC with 38 RBI, while Renee Erwin and Kim LeComte are tied for first with five triples. Erwin led the Lady Buffs with a .500 batting average last week complete with two doubles and home run in game two vs. the Rambelles.
