SAN ANTONIO, Texas - Senior pitcher
Emily Seidel twirled her second career complete game shutout at Incarnate Word in as many seasons, leading the Wildcats to a 7-0 game-one victory. However, she couldn't save her team coming out of the bullpen in game two and ACU left Cardinal Field with a 7-3 loss and a split of Friday's doubleheader.
Seidel struck out three through 7.0 innings and received all the run support she would need during a five-run second inning during which the Wildcats capitalized on several Cardinal errors.
The excitment started with two outs and the bases loaded.
Demi McNulty drew a walk to bring in the first run and
Peyton Hedrick helped clear the bases when shortstop Monique Miller sailed a throw over second base and into the outfield. Hedrick motored all the way into third base on the two-base error and scored two batters later on
Kaleigh Singleton's infield single.
The Wildcats made it a 6-0 game in the fourth on a RBI base hit up the middle by
Alyson Bishoff to plate
Holly Neese, and added an insurance in the sixth when
Brianna Barnhill double home pinch runner
Lakin Carpenter.
Barnhill led ACU in game one with a career single-game high three hits, while Singleon went 2-for-4.
Seidel, meanwhile, pitched her way out of a few jams to earn her second shutout of the season and first since a 5.0-inning, run-rule victory over Prairie View A&M on Feb. 13.
In the first she got a ground ball to third base with runners at first and second, and in the fifth she wiggled out of a bases-loaded situation by getting clean-up batter (and starting pitcher) Brooke DuBois to foul out to right field. Seidel also left runners in scoring position to end the third and fourth innings. To end the game she got the Cardinals' No. 2 and 3 batters to pop up on the infield with a runner at first base.
Game two appeared to be going the Wildcats way for a short while until three critical errors allowed the Cardinals to bat around in the fifth inning.
ACU (7-25, 3-11 Southland) entered that frame clinging to a 3-2 lead and starter
Julia Montoya was able to get the first out with ease on a routine ground ball to first. But then the floodgates opened starting with a pinch-hit single to right by DuBois and a base hit to left by leadoff batter Taylor Johnson.
Miller came up to bunt the runners over but wound up making it to second when a throw by Neese at third base got away from
Baylee Travers covering first.
DuBois scored on that play to tie the game at 3-3, and Johnson came home on a fielder's choice RBI delivered by Alex Zepeda to give UIW the lead for good. Three more runs would score soon afterward on an error, single and sacrifice fly.
In their final at-bat in the seventh, the Wildcats got a two-out triple from
Taylor Brown, who finished game two 3-for-4, but starter Kristin Hebert left her stranded with a strikeout of
Holly Vanckhoven.
ACU was down a run to UIW (5-29, 1-13 Southland) in the fourth on a one-out RBI groundout by Katie Helm, however, Montoya escaped any further damage by getting Anna-Marie Moore to fly out with runners at second and third.
The following inning, Bishoff doubled in two runs with two outs on a shot down the left-field line and Hedrick made it a 3-1 game with her second base hit of the night cap.
Incarnate Word went on to send seven batters to the plate in the home half of the fifth, but only came away with one run as they left two runners in scoring position vs. Montoya for the third consecutive inning.
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The Wildcats and Cardinals conclude their three-game series in San Antonio Saturday at noon.
