Softball completes 2015 with trip to Houston

Softball | 4/30/2015 2:02:00 PM

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ABILENE - Abilene Christian softball finishes its second year of NCAA Division I competition this weekend with a three-game set at Houston Baptist. Game times are Friday at 2 p.m. (doubleheader) and Saturday at noon.

The Wildcats (11-33, 5-19 Southland) are coming off a series loss at home to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. ACU received quality pitching from both senior Emily Seidel and junior Julia Montoya in game one's 6-3 decision as the Wildcats rallied back from a third-inning 3-0 deficit. 

However, they each faltered in the late innings of games two and three. The Islanders put up five runs in the seventh to win 8-7 in game two, and in game three, Brittney Morse blasted a sixth-inning grand slam that carried her team to a 5-3 victory.

The Wildcats hit well the entire series, finishing with a .352 batting average. Sophomore outfielder Taylor Brown went 7-for-12 with three runs and her conference leading 10th triple, while home runs were delivered by freshmen Peyton Hedrick and Kaleigh Lightsey.

Hedrick's round-tripper was her 11th of the spring and her triple was her fifth; however, she recorded only one other base hit and her season-batting average slipped to .434, putting her into a tie for second place (among Southland leaders) with McNeese catcher Erika Piancastelli.

Hedrick also ranks second to Piancastelli in slugging percentage, .923 to .797, and second to Southeastern Louisiana's Katie Lacour in base hits, 79-62. Overall, the Forney, Texas native ranks among the Southland's top-10 in nine major offensive categories and goes into this final conference weekend on a 14-game Southland hitting streak.

Brown, who had a 19-game hitting streak earlier this season, is right behind Hedrick with 59 hits, while Seidel is among the league leaders with 174.2 innings pitched and 84 strikeouts.

HBU (13-29, 5-17 Southland) is batting .270 led by outfielder Nicole Shedd, who is 22nd in the Southland Conference with a .339 batting average. She also leads her club with two triples and four home runs.
 
In the circle, Laci Belovsky is third in the conference in shutouts (4), eighth in both strikeouts (83) and appearances (30), 11th in complete games (10) and 20th in ERA (4.64).

This is the second meeting in as many years between the Huskies and the Wildcats. HBU was humbled by the Wildcats' offense in game one, 18-8, at ACU's Poly Wells Field but came back to win games two and three by scores of 8-6 and 4-7.