Box Score
LUBBOCK – ACU freshman pitcher
Hannah Null fired the first no-hitter of her collegiate career and seventh in ACU softball history Friday night as she led the Wildcats to a 9-1 run-rule victory over Rhode Island at the Texas Tech Invitational at Rocky Johnson Field.
Null (3-4) was dominant as she mowed down the Rams, allowing just one walk and hitting one batter on her way to ACU's first no-hitter since Rebecca Eldridge threw one against Cameron on March 28, 2000. Null is just the fourth pitcher in ACU softball history to throw a no-hitter, joining Shelly Owen (four no-hitters combined in 1997 and 1998), Amanda Cobb (one in 1999) and Eldridge on the short list.
Null – who threw nine no-hitters, four of which were perfect games during her prep career at Flower Mound Marcus High School – struck out seven Rams as the Wildcats picked up the win to improve to 4-10 on the season. ACU, which lost to Sam Houston State 12-4 earlier in the day, will take on Sam Houston State at 10 a.m. Saturday and will face Rhode Island again at 12:30 p.m. The Wildcats will wrap up their stay in the tournament Sunday at 12:30 p.m. against Texas Tech.
Null only allowed four baserunners with two of them reaching via ACU errors, one reaching on a walk and another reaching after being hit. With the Widlcats leading 4-0 after a four-run first inning, the Rams got their leadoff hitter on base when ACU leftfielder
Anna Jones let a blooper by Jocelyn Mattson hit off her glove and go into center field. Mattison went into third base on the play, but then was awarded home when Madison Buckey's throw from centerfield sailed into the dugout.
That's all the Rams would get, however, as Null struck out the next two batters before hitting Jenna Cubello. But she retired Megan Congro on a ground ball to end the inning. She gave up a walk to Stacey Fox to lead off the fourth inning, but she was quickly erased on a 4-6 fielder's choice. Null then got the next two hitters out as she retired the final five batters she faced to end the game.
ACU got all the runs it would need in the first inning, and all four were unearned after an error on Cubello at shortstop.
Emily Seidel,
Anna Jones and
Kaylee Crozier each had RBI hits for the Wildcats in the first inning. ACU added single runs in the second and third innings and then posted four in the bottom of the fourth as the Wildcats got an RBI double from
Ashley Nolan, an RBI triple from Buckley and an RBI single from
Demi McNulty in back-to-back-to-back fashion.
In their first game of the invitational on Friday, the Wildcats committed four errors as the Bearkats came away with the 12-4 win.
With the scored tied 4-4 in the bottom of the third inning, the Bearkats used an ACU error and RBI singles by Sarrah Allison and Alyssa Coggins to score three runs. The Bearkats added another unearned run in the fourth inning and two runs in the fifth and sixth innings to earn the run-rule victory.
ACU pounded out 11 hits, but left seven runners on base, including runners at first and second in a three-run third innnig that saw the Wildcats tie the game at 4-4. Seidel, McNulty and
Tori Valdivia each had RBI hits in the inning for the Wildcats.
Peyton Mosley was tagged with the loss for the Wildcats as she fell to 0-3 on the season. She went just four innings and gave up eight runs (six earned) on nine hits, while walking six batters.
