ABILENE – Abilene Christian's 21st-ranked softball team returns home this weekend for a three-game series against Lone Star Conference rival and 2012 NCAA regional qualifier Incarnate Word.
Game times are Friday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 1 and 3 p.m.
The Cardinals (9-6) were a surprise addition to last year's eight-team regional field after upsetting several teams en route to the conference tournament championship. As the No. 7 seed, UIW toppled host Texas Woman's in the first round, 5-1, doubled-up Midwestern State in the semifinals, 6-3, and then stunned nationally ranked Angelo State in the title game, 6-4.
But once the Cardinals got to regionals in Edmond, Okla., they quickly found themselves heading back to San Antonio after losing consecutive games to Central Oklahoma, 3-1, and the Wildcats, 5-2. ACU's victory over UIW pushed its lead in the all-time series to 27-19, but there are still plenty more games to come between these two sides as they prepare to enter the Southland Conference together later this summer.
The Wildcats (13-8) are coming off a solid 3-2 weekend at the Midwestern State Invitational, where they split a two-game set with No. 13 Emporia State coupled with wins over Oklahoma Panhandle and Northeastern State. They also lost a 3-2 game in eight innings to the always-competitive St. Mary's, which has engaged in several one-run games with ACU over the past four seasons.
ACU batted .259 as a team in Wichita Falls, led by senior centerfielder
Keanna Winkfield, who hit .500 with four runs, four RBI and three extra-base hits. Newcomer
Anna Jones also batted well over .300 through four starts, while veterans
Courtney Flanary and
Sara Vaughn pushed the team's season home run total to nine with back-to-back home runs in the loss to Emporia State.
Flanary currently leads the team with three round-trippers and is among the LSC leaders in runs (19) and doubles (7).
In the circle, senior
Shelby Hall scored two victories that lifted her season record to 5-1 and lowered her ERA to 0.98.
Hall first started vs. Oklahoma Panhandle and pitched all 5.0 innings of a shortened 10-2 game. She retired the six first batters she faced before running into a little bit of trouble in the third and fourth innings; however, she escaped a bases loaded fourth-inning jam with a 3-2 fielder's choice and fly ball to center.
Hall again started in the 2-1 win vs. Northeastern State, and after giving up the run in the first, she retired 21 of the next 24 batters.
Senior
Caitlyn Crain (6-3) pitched brilliantly vs. Emporia State in their first meeting, allowing just one run on three hits. Crain sat down the first eight batters she faced before surrendering a two-out single, and kept the Hornets off the board until Katie Huffman doubled home Amanda Self, who reached on a hit by pitch in the fifth. She then gave up just one more hit over the final two innings, which included a 1-2-3 seventh.
Crain's season totals have her ranked among the conference leaders in wins (6), innings pitched (60.1), strikeouts (40) and complete games (6).
Incarnate Word yesterday lost both ends of a home doubleheader to St. Edward's by scores of 9-1 and 12-3 to snap a five-game winning streak that included sweeps of the Hilltoppers and Colorado Christian. The Cardinals began their season 3-2 and then split their first two doubleheaders vs. St. Mary's and Texas Lutheran.
Monica Acuna leads UIW at the plate and is among the LSC leaders in batting average (.444), on-base percentage (.500) and slugging percentage (.778). Brianna Sanchez, meanwhile, is the Cardinals' top pitcher with a 5-0 record, 0.97 ERA and 25 strikeouts.
