JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Abilene Christian softball dropped both ends of its doubleheader Friday afternoon, losing 3-1 in the late innings to Campbell, and 9-1 to the Dolphin Classic hosts from Jacksonville University.
Senior
Emily Seidel started both games for ACU (3-10) and struck out eight batters through 9.0 innings of work. She escaped a few jams while pitching with a 1-0 lead early against Campbell, but the Camels produced two runs in the third on four hits - the last two of which were RBI singles off the bats of Melissa Tullar and Kerstine Womack.
Womack's game-winning hit came with two outs.
Seidel continued to put base runners on from the fourth to sixth innings, however, the score remained the same until the top of the seventh when Camise Patterson - recipient of a leadoff walk - scored on a two-out double by pinch hitter Lia Batchelor.
Campbell (8-5) left 18 runners on base, including the bases loaded in the sixth.
ACU also failed to capitalize offensively throughout the game, leaving runners at third base in the third and fourth innings and runners at first and second in the sixth.
To begin the seventh, ACU pinch hitter
Kaleigh Lightsey reached first base on a dropped third strike but her pinch runner (
Tori Valdivia) was quickly extinguished from the basepaths after starting pitcher Julia Callicutt got
Baylee Travers to hit into a double play.
Even with two outs, the Wildcats continued to scrap as leadoff hitter
Taylor Brown singled through the left side and
Cara Hoover drew a walk to bring the go-ahead run to the plate in shortstop
Peyton Hedrick.
Hedrick tripled and scored a run in the first inning, but this time she couldn't get the ball out of the infield as the third baseman beat Brown to the bag for the game-ending force out.
Jacksonville (8-9) scored a run in the first to begin game two against the Wildcats and largely put it away in the third behind six runs that made it a 7-0 game. The big hits that inning included a two-run home run by Emily Sanchez and solo blast by Lexie Ballard.
ACU's Brown cut the Dolphins' lead to 7-1 in the fifth on a RBI single up the middle that plated
Brianna Barnhill, but in the bottom of the frame leadoff hitter Danielle Baker ended the contest with a two-run home run to left field.
Baker led the Dolphins' offense in game two, going 3-for-4 with a single, double, home run, three runs and two RBI.
The Wildcats return to action Saturday morning for games against Savannah State (9 a.m.) and Cleveland State (11:30 a.m.). They face the Camels once more Sunday at 10 a.m.
