Softball | 4/26/2016 4:29:00 PM
BUY TICKETS!
Live Stats | Video | Audio
ABILENE – Abilene Christian softball plays host to 21st-ranked Baylor Wednesday at 6 p.m. to conclude a four-game homestand. The Bears are making their debut at Poly Wells Field and have an overall record of 39-12.
Live stats are offered for the second-ever meeting between ACU and Baylor along with audio and video streams.
The two programs met for the first time last season in Waco, where the seventh-ranked Bears held on for a 4-2 victory. ACU took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on a
Peyton Hedrick RBI double, but Baylor countered with four runs between the second and third innings – three of which were scored on a home run by Shelby Friudenberg.
Alyson Bishoff then homered with one out in the seventh inning.
The Wildcats enter this game at 21-19, having won their last two Southland Conference series with a 3-1 win at Texas Tech pinned in between. Redshirt sophomore
Hannah Null tossed a complete game against the Red Raiders with five strikeouts in leading ACU to its first victory over Texas Tech, and started three additional times last weekend vs. Sam Houston State.
Null won game one of the series, scattering two hits over seven innings with 5 Ks, and was the beneficiary of a walk-off grand slam from junior
Casey-May Huff. The Wildcats entered their final at-bat down 2-1, but loaded the bases with one out and the first ACU home run of Huff's career proved to be a memorable one.
The Wildcats again found themselves trailing the Bearkats by three runs entering the seventh inning of game two only to pull off another dramatic finish. Sophomore
Brianna Barnhill led off with a triple, and it appeared she might be stranded there as the next two Wildcats struck out and popped up.
Demi McNulty, however, was hit by a pitch to place runners at the corners, and leadoff hitter
Taylor Brown followed with a RBI single. Hedrick then was intentionally walked to load the bases, allowing freshman
Miranda Herron to play the role of hero as her chopper down the third-base line rolled into the left-field corner.
Herron batted .500, drove in six runs and hit homers against both Texas Tech and Sam Houston State in earning the title of Southland Conference Hitter of Week. Her cumulative performance also netted her a nomination for
D1 Softball HERO of the Week.
Baylor comes to ACU having won its last six games, four of which have been by shutout. The Bears' win streak started April 15 in Stillwater, Okla., where they won the final two games of their series against Oklahoma State by scores of 6-3 and 9-0. They then beat Texas Tech, 3-0, in a midweek game at home followed by a sweep of Kansas.
Baylor is hitting .312 as a team, while holding opposing hitters to a .202 batting average and 2.30 earned-runs per game. Six of the Bears' starters are hitting well over .300 led by Sarah Smith's .415 batting average, while ace Heather Stearns has an 18-6 record with 195 strikeouts. Kendall Potts also is having an all-conference type of season with a 12-1 record, 1.96 ERA and 74 strikeouts.
