Softball | 3/31/2016 2:44:00 PM
ABILENE – Abilene Christian softball returns to the road this weekend for a three-game series against Southland Conference juggernauts McNeese State. The Wildcats and Cowgirls have a 5 p.m. doubleheader Friday and a single game Saturday at noon.
There's very little McNeese doesn't do well. The Cowgirls are first in the league in pitching (2.19 ERA) and defense (.970), second in hitting (.320) and have the second-most stolen bases with 83.
They also have won its last eight games and are off to a 9-0 start against the league, 2.5 games up on second-place Nicholls and 3.0 ahead of Central Arkansas, Lamar and Abilene Christian at 6-3.
The Wildcats enter this weekend on a two-game losing streak to put them at 12-15 overall. ACU came very close to winning its third-consecutive Southland series last weekend at UCA, only to fall in the series finale, 11-10, in 12 innings, and at home Wednesday night the Wildcats lost 6-1 to Texas Tech.
The Red Raiders had one inning in which they hit a pair of two-run home runs off starter
Allison Turner, but did little offensively afterward. Texas Tech took a 1-0 lead on a sacrifice fly in the first inning, and scored only once more following its home run inning.
The Wildcats' offense, however, was held in check most of the night by Cheyenne Powell whose lone mistake was a
Holly Neese solo shot in the second inning that tied the score at 1-1. From there ACU mounted its biggest scoring threat the fifth inning, but with runners at the corners and two outs, Powell got pinch hitter
Alyson Bishoff to softly line out.
The Wildcats left two more aboard in the seventh after junior
Taylor Brown popped out to end the game.
McNeese leads its all time-series against ACU after taking two of three from the Wildcats last spring at Poly Wells Stadium. The Cowgirls run-ruled ACU 8-0 in game one, but the lost the night cap 8-2 as shortstop
Peyton Hedrick went 2-for-3 with a three-run home run.
Hedrick homered twice more in the series finale, but the Cowgirls went deep three times over the final four innings.
Interestingly, McNeese also came into last year's series with Wildcats undefeated against the Southland at 9-0.
ACU currently stands seventh in the conference with a .267 batting average and ninth with a 4.04 ERA. Neese is ranked among the league leaders in slugging percentage (.600), home runs (5) and RBI (24), while Brown is tops with four triples. Hedrick is tied with Neese for the team lead in home runs.
The Wildcats' fielding also has been solid all spring (.961) and last night vs. Tech there were three separate run-saving plays. Left-fielder
Miranda Herron climbed over the wall in left to steal a home run. Brown made a diving catch in the right-center gap, and pitcher
Hannah Null snared a two-out line drive with a runner at third base.
Null pitched several innings in relief vs. Texas Tech, allowed just one run and struck out two. She ranks fifth in the league with 66 punch outs.
