RUSTON, La. - Abilene Christian snapped its season-opening six-game losing streak Friday night at the Lady Techster Softball Complex as the Wildcats defeated Belmont, 3-1, following a 4-1 loss to host Louisiana Tech.
ACU (1-6) concludes its stay in Ruston Saturday with an 11:15 a.m. twin bill vs. Mississippi Valley State (0-7) and Texas State (7-1). The Bobcats won two games vs. the Wildcats last weekend in San Marcos.
Game 1 | Louisiana Tech 4, ACU 1Redshirt sophomore
Hannah Null struck out six over 5.0 innings and freshman
Brianna Barnhill hit a solo home run to provide all the Wildcats' offfense in a 4-1 loss at Louisiana Tech (5-2).
Lady Techster Baile Allen scattered four hits over 7.0 innings with two strikeouts on 91 pitches. She also recorded 11 ground outs as the Wildcats stranded five runners on base, including two in scoring position in the fourth and another at second base in the seventh.
Louisiana Tech catcher Krysta Tutsch drove in the game's first two runs. She hit a solo home down the right-field line with one out in the second and slapped a RBI single to right in the fourth to plate center fielder Tori Charters.
ACU got on the board with two outs in the sixth with Barnhill's first round-tripper of the season, but Allen came back to retire four of the final five Wildcats she faced and was awarded a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth.
The Wildcats'
Julia Montoya pitched to two sixth-inning hitters, getting a sacrifice fly to center that turned into an 8-2-5 double play and a line drive caught by second baseman
Demi McNulty.
Game 2 | ACU 3, Belmont 1Freshman
Allison Turner delivered a 7.0-inning complete game with three strikeouts and got all the run support she needed in a three-run third inning as the Wildcats salvaged a split of Friday's doubleheader.
Following a 1-2-3 first inning, Turner walked cleanup batter Jessica Wilson to begin the second and watched her score three batters later on a RBI single to left center field by Jordan Daly. But after that hit, Turner got the No. 8 and 9 batters on a pop up to second and lineout to shortstop.
Belmont (0-6) threatened again in the fifth with Turner escaping that jam with another infield fly to third base, and in the seventh she left the bases loaded on a ground ball to shortstop
Peyton Hedrick.
The Wildcats ripped six hits and drew three walks but didn't score until the third inning, when leadoff batter
Taylor Brown hit her first collegiate home run to right-center field field off reliever Ashley Johnson.
Freshman Donnelle Johnson followed with a double to center and scored on a fielding error with Hedrick at the plate. Hedrick would eventually steal second base, advance to third on a wild pitch, and score on Barnhill's fielder's choice RBI.
ACU collected three additional hits for the remainder of the game with no one advancing past second base.
Brown finished the game 2-for-4 with a run and RBI.
