JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Freshman
Peyton Hedrick went 6-for-7 and
Cara Hoover and
Brianna Barnhill each blasted a pair of home runs during Abilene Christian's Saturday morning losses to Cleveland State and Savannah State at Jacksonville University's Pruitt Softball Complex.
ACU (3-12) began its day with an 14-11 defeat to the Vikings (7-4) before losing again in gut-wrenching fashion to the Tigers, 11-8. The Wildcats took an 11-6 lead into the bottom of the fourth only to watch Cleveland State score the game's final eight runs. And vs. Savannah State (3-4), they surrendered four unanswered runs between the fifth and sixth innings after coming all the way back from a 7-0 deficit.
Senior Emily Sediel started both games for ACU, striking out four over 7.1 innings pitched. Unfortunately, she and reliever
Julia Montoya also combined to give up 12 home runs among the 16 extra-base hits clubbed by the opposition plus nine walks. The Wildcats were additionally hurt by four errors through 55 chances.
The first of those miscues took place with two outs in the first inning vs. Cleveland State and led to a five-run frame for the Vikings as both Alyson Broschk and Sideney Morgan took Seidel deep.
Morgan's two-run shot to left-center field put the Vikings ahead 5-1 and the score stayed that way until the third when
Alyson Bishoff singled home Hedrick, who went 4-for-4 in game one. Two batters later, Hoover tied the score at 5-5 with a three-run blast to left field off starter Mackenzie Joecken.
Cleveland State briefly retook the lead once more in its half of third on a RBI single by Katelind Phillips, but ACU sent 10 batters to the plate in the following frame as part of a six-run fourth.
Sophomore
Taylor Brown tripled to start the inning and scored on a single slapped back up the middle by
Kristin Watkins. Cleveland State then went to its bullpen, but found no relief as Kristin Catalano allowed all four batters she faced to reach base, including
Holly Neese and Hoover, each of whom drilled a two-run double to center. Â
ACU second baseman
Holly Vanckhoven scored in between the extra-base hits on a passed ball.
The Vikings went to their pen a second time following Hoover's hit and came out with junior and game-winner Susan Knight, who silenced the Wildcats' offense over the final 4.0 innings behind 10 strikeouts.
ACU started to get to Knight in the seventh and had the tying run at the plate with two outs, but Knight got Neese swinging to end the game.
Offensively, Cleveland State answered the Wildcats' six-run fourth with five runs of its own that tied the score once more at 11-11. Then in the fifth, Joecken made up for her shaky start with a go-ahead, two-run shot to right-center field off Seidel. In the sixth inning, Cynthia Woodard led off with a solo blast vs. Montoya.
Seidel returned to the circle to start game two vs. the Tigers, but after getting two quick pop ups to start the first she issued a walk that was followed by a home run. Then came a single and run-scoring triple as Savannah State jumped ahead 3-0.
The Tigers left two aboard in the second after Seidel escaped a jam with two strikeouts and a ground ball, but she could not get out of the third inning. The first five Tigers all reached base, the last of whom was second baseman Molly Lillis who made it a 7-0 game following her three-run shot over the wall in left-center field.
But the Wildcats would not go away quietly as they responded with a seven-run third against starter Amanda Hallman.
Home runs by the Wildcats' No. 7 and 9 batters Hoover and Barnhill - with a walk by
Baylee Travers sandwiched in between - cut the Tigers' lead to 7-3. Then singles by Brown and Watkins were followed by a two-run double down the left-field line by Hedrick.
Neese walked to load the bases with no outs and Bishoff capitalized on the situation by driving in two on a run-scoring single that made it 7-6. One batter later, Vanckhoven tied the score at 7-7 on a sac fly to right.
Hoover returned to the plate once more that inning and was issued a walk, but after Savannah State brought in reliever Helen Keevy, she was quickly wiped out by a 6-4-3 double play.
Keevy would start the fourth by giving up the second of Barnhill's two home runs, but was quite effective afterward as she wriggled out of a jam with runners at the corners by getting Bishoff to ground out to first base.
Ashley Eichenlaub came in for Keevy to begin the fifth and earned the victory in relief as two of her 3.0 scoreless innings were preceded by a two-run frame.
The Tigers went ahead for good on Lillis' second home run with one out in the fifth, and in the sixth, Montoya surrendered solo shots to sisters Amber and Amanda Hallman. The twins went a combined 6-for-7 with five runs and two RBI against Wildcat pitching.
ACU concludes its stay at the Dolphin Classic Sunday morning with a rematch vs. Campbell. The Camels won Friday's game over the Wildcats, 3-1.
