ABILENE - Abilene Christian softball was three outs away from a doubleheader sweep of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi when the Islanders' bats sprang to life in the seventh, scoring five runs for an 8-7 victory.
The disappointing loss followed a solid 6-3 victory for the Wildcats in game one and snapped their four-game series winning streak against Corpus Christi. It also delayed ACU once again from winning their first Southland Conference series of the spring.
After breaking a 1-1 tie in the fourth on sophomore
Kaleigh Singleton's bases-clearing double, it certainly appeared the Wildcats (11-32, 5-18 Southland) were destined for victory as that frame was followed by one in which freshmen
Brianna Barnhill and
Kaleigh Lightsey went deep off starter Katie Blanar.
Barnhill's solo shot was her second of the day and seventh of the spring, while Lightsey's first career shot to left-center put the Wildcats comfortably ahead at 7-2.
Lightsey was the last batter for Blanar as she would be replaced by game one starter Liz Carter.
Carter started her role as reliever with a ground ball out but went on to load the bases on a walk and back-to-back singles by freshman
Melissa Rodriguez and
Demi McNulty. She caught a big break after fielding a tapper by sophomore
Taylor Brown to get the force at home and then benefitted from a huge catch by her shortstop Jessica Mendez, who snared a rising line drive off the bat of rookie
Peyton Hedrick.
That one play seemingly shifted the fortunes of both teams as the Islanders added one run in the sixth before teeing off in the seventh, during which they sent eight batters to the plate.
Meanwhile, the Wildcats stranded runner at second base with one out in the sixth and ended the game on a fly ball to right with runners at first and second.
Carter drove in the Islanders' first two runs of the seventh on her second double of the game and would score on a two-out rip up the middle by Dani Tefft that cut ACU's lead to 7-6.
On the next play Cosette Hernandez ran out a ground ball to second base to bring in the tying run, but the throw to get her sailed wide, thus allowing Tefft to score the game-winner from second.
ACU, in its final at-bat, got two runners on with two outs as junior
Demi McNulty chopped a single over the third-baseman's head for her second hit of the night and Brown reached on an infield single to third to finish the doubleheader 5-for-8.
Carter then went to work against the hard-hitting Hedrick with a base open, and got her to fly out to deep right on a ball - that for a moment - seemed like it could be a walk-off.
Game one was slightly less dramatic, although it did feature an impressive Wildcat rally as the home team scored six unanswered runs between the third and fourth innings after starting the contest in a 3-0 hole.
Hedrick made it a 3-1 game with an RBI triple in the third and scored on Barnhill's ensuing single.
Holly Neese then got on board with an error and came home three batters later on a game-tying hit to left by
Alyson Bishoff.
Rodriguez gave the Wildcats the lead for good at 4-3 on an infield single to short with runners at the corners, and in the fourth, Barnhill muscled a two-run shot to right-center field to make it 6-3.
Following the Islanders (16-26-1, 11-11 SLC) third inning in which they scored an unearned run, senior starter
Emily Seidel retired the side in order in the fourth and fifth (five ground balls) and pitched her way out of a bases-loaded jam in the sixth with a strikeout of Lindsey Lyles.
Seidel was taken out in the seventh in favor of Montoya after issuing a leadoff walk. But Montoya left that runner stranded as she put down the top of the Islanders' order on only nine pitches in earning her second career save.
Montoya pitched a 1-2-3 first in game two, but had to escape several major jams the rest of the way as she allowed at least two hits in every inning from the second to seventh.
Corpus Christi catcher Brittney Morse homered to give the Islanders a 1-0 lead in the second, but the Wildcats came back to tie the score on a two-out RBI single by Brown.
The Islanders left two on base in the third and fourth before getting one back in the fifth on a run-scoring double by Morse, who finished the night cap 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBI.
Hernandez plated Tefft in the sixth after the Islanders' left fielder reached second on a bloop shot that landed between Hedrick and Rodriguez.
The Wildcats and Islanders conclude their three-game series Saturday at noon.
