LAWTON, Okla. - A pair of two-run hits combined with seven solid innings from junior
Caitlyn Crain carried the Abilene Christian softball team to a 4-1 victory over Cameron in game one of their Thursday afternoon doubleheader.
The Aggies came back later in the afternoon to earn the split with a walk-off 4-3 win in the nightcap of the doubleheader. The teams will conclude their three-game Lone Star Conference series with a single game Friday.
The first game was scoreless until the fifth inning when
Lyndi Smith drilled a two-out, two-run home run - her fifth of the year - off starter Cheyenne Brown.
Megan Brigance also scored on the hit after drawing a leadoff walk to begin the frame.
ACU tacked on two more runs in the sixth to build its lead to 4-0.
Sara Vaughn and
Kimberly Briggs each reached base to begin the inning, and then after they pulled a double steal,
Courtney Flanary ripped a two-run single to left.
Cameron responded with a score of its own in its half of the sixth when Amanda Karth singled home Drew Wright, who began the inning with a double to center. But Crain afterward retired the final four batters she faced, ending the game on a foul pop up to third base.
Crain finished the game with just one strikeout, but still managed to strand six of the seven base runners she allowed, including three in the first inning.
In the nightcap, the Wildcats fell behind 3-0 as the Aggies strung together three runs in the third inning. But the Wildcats trung together three runs of their own in the top of the seventh inning to knot the game at 3-3.
Keanna Winkfield had a two-run triple to left field to make it 3-2 before Kim Briggs lifted a fly ball to right field that plated Winkfield with the game-tying run.
But the Aggies came up with the run they needed in the bottom of the seventh off Crain, who worked the last four innings in relief. She retired the first two batters of the seventh before giving up an infield single to Drew Wright and then a game-ending double to Tara Martini that drove in Wright with the winning run.
