CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - Sophomore
Peyton Hedrick went 4-for-8 with a double, triple, four runs and four stolen bases as Abilene Christian softball and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi split a doubleheader Friday afternoon at Chapman Field.
ACU lost 4-3 in game one, but rebounded behind 11 base hits and five opponents' errors in game two, winning 7-3, in moving to 22-21 overall and 15-8 vs. the Southland Conference.
Corpus Christi enters the conclusion of its three-game series vs. the Wildcats Saturday at noon with overall and conference records of 16-28 and 5-17.
Game One Recap Â- Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 4, Abilene Christian 3
ACU held leads of 2-1 and 3-2 but the Islanders scored the game-tying run in the fifth and go-ahead run in the sixth, sending the Wildcats to their third-consecutive loss.
Corpus Christi starting pitcher Liz Carter tossed a complete game with seven strikeouts and tied the score at 3-3 in the fifth inning on a sacrifice fly to center. She then stranded a runner at second base in the sixth before watching her offense generate the game-winning run on a Megan Mitchell single to right-center field.
Jessica Mendez scored on the hit as part of a 2-for-3 day at the plate. She also doubled and scored a run in the fourth that tied the game at 2-2.
The Islanders took a 1-0 lead in the second as starting pitcher
Hannah Null experienced some uncharacteristic wildness. After getting the first two outs on a ground ball and strikeout, Null walked No. 7 batter Candice Hadd and later uncorked two wild pitches that advanced the runner to third base. Null then issued a second walk and Hadd scored on an infield error with Mackinzee Griebel at the plate.
ACU came back in its half of the third, getting a pair of two-out RBI hits. A single up the middle by
Miranda Herron plated
Peyton Hedrick after she stole her first of four bases today, and Herron came home on
Holly Neese's double to left.
Hedrick would triple two innings later and gave ACU its last lead at 3-2, scoring on Herron's double down the left-field line.
Herron was 2-for-3 with a run and two RBI in leading the Wildcats on offense.
Game Two Recap - Abilene Christian 7, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 3
The Wildcats scored six times between the fourth and fifth innings, and freshman
Allison Turner pitched 4.1 innings of scoreless frames of relief in giving ACU a split of today's twin bill.
The Islanders scored all their runs in the third inning off ACU starter
Casey-May Huff but Turner prevented any additional runs from scoring by striking out Brianne Trost with runners in scoring position.
Turner went on to strand runners at first base in the fourth and fifth innings, and with the Wildcats holding onto a 7-3 lead in the sixth, she escaped a bases-loaded jam with a infield pop fly. The rookie left-hander walked her third batter in the seventh inning, but came back with a strikeout of Candice Hadd and ground ball off the bat of Mariah Clay.
Peyton Hedrick was one of three Wildcats with three hits in game two and reached base five times staring with a first-inning single. She then stole second base and scored the game's first run on a throwing error by the Corpus Christi catcher.
Three innings later Hedrick tied the score at 3-3 with a two-out, two-run double that plated
Brianna Barnhill and
Taylor Brown.
Miranda Herron followed with another run-scoring hit that gave the Wildcats the lead for good.
Four Islander errors contributed to the Wildcats' three-run fifth, three of which were made by the infield.
Senior
Demi McNulty started the inning by reaching on the second-baseman's error. She then went to third base on Huff's sacrifice bunt and scored on
Alyson Bishoff's single to left-field.
Bishoff was 3-for-4 in game two with three singles and Brown ripped three hits from the leadoff spot.
An error by the Islanders' shortstop allowed Bishoff's pinch runner
Alli Spivey to score from second base, pushing ACU's lead to 6-3, and Barnhill came home with the game's final run, scoring on error by the right fielder.
