ABILENE – Abilene Christian softball dominated its competition Saturday at Poly Wells Field as freshman
Sidney Holman followed
Hannah Null's complete game, seven-strikeout performance over Northern Colorado with a five-inning no-hitter against Prairie View A&M. The Wildcats beat the Bears, 6-0, and triumphed over the Panthers, 11-0, in improving to 7-8 on the season.
ACU has won four straight games since starting this weekend's homestand.
Holman's no-hitter was the eighth in program history and third since head coach
Bobby Reeves took over the program in 2011. Null tossed a no-hitter during her freshman year of 2014 vs. Rhode Island and authored her second one last spring against Arkansas-Pine Bluff. Shelly Owen pitched four no-hitters between 1997 and 1998 to lead the program, while Amanda Cobb and Rebecca Eldridge each tossed one during the 1999 and 2000 seasons, respectively.
The Wildcats play their final home game of the weekend Sunday at 11 a.m. vs. Northern Colorado, which enters tomorrow's game with a 3-11 record. The Bears beat Prairie View, 3-0, on 14 base hits, in between ACU's victories today.
Game 1 – ACU 6, Northern Colorado 0
Redshirt junior
Hannah Null scattered three hits and two walks over 7.0 innings with seven strikeouts to defeat Northern Colorado, 6-0, on a crisp morning at Poly Wells Field. Null's shutout was the eighth of her career and second this spring.
Null put two runners aboard in the second but escaped that mini two-out jam with a pop up to shortstop
Peyton Hedrick. She then got a double play ball in the fourth after walking the leadoff batter, and in the sixth she struck out two of last three batters she faced with two on and no outs.
ACU broke the scoreless tie in the third inning on
Brianna Barnhill's triple to right field that plated
Donelle Johnson and
Kaleigh Singleton. The Wildcats then scored at least one run in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings.
Johnson doubled in
Casey-May Huff in the fourth to make it a 3-0 game, and in the following frame the Wildcats scored two runs on consecutive RBI hits by Hedrick (triple) and
Holly Neese (infield single). ACU started the seventh with back-to-back doubles, the last of which by Barnhill brought home pinch runner
Caroline Adair.
Barnhill finished the game 2-for-3 with three RBI, batting out of the No. 9 spot.
Null improved to 3-6 with the win, and Northern Colorado starter Jayme Reddacliff fell to 1-7 after giving up five runs (four earned) in five innings of work. Chandler Elsner pitched the final two frames for the Bears and gave up one run on two hits.
Game 2 – ACU 11, Prairie View A&M 0 (5 innings)
Freshman
Sidney Holman (4-2) was one fourth-inning error away from perfection, but she still ended her no-hit performance in grand fashion by striking out the side in the fifth inning of an 11-0 victory. Holman whiffed seven Panther batters today and now has 44 Ks on the season to go along with her 1.94 ERA.
The Belton, Texas, native, retired the first 10 batters she faced until the Panthers' second baseman reached on an infielder's error with one out in the fourth. The runner would get no further than first base, however, as Holman got two fly ball outs to end the inning.
ACU's offense was in check all game as it clubbed 13 hits against two Prairie View pitchers. The Wildcats batted around during a six-run first inning, added a single run in the second inning on two base hits, and put the game out of reach with four runs in the third inning.
Newcomer
Blair Clayton led off the third with her first career collegiate home run to center field, and four batters later,
Peyton Hedrick ripped a two-run double to make it a 10-0 game. Hedrick later would score on
Braegan Hamilton's ground ball to second as part of a 3-for-3 day at the plate with three runs and two RBI.
Clayton and leadoff hitter
Taylor Brown each finished with two base hits, while Hedrick, Hamilton,
Casey-May Huff and
Brianna Barnhill each registered two RBI.
