Softball concludes tournament play at Oklahoma State

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ABILENE - Winners of four of its last five games, Abilene Christian softball heads to Stillwater, Okla. this weekend for five games at Oklahoma State's Mizuno Classic. The Wildcats (7-9) slate of games includes two contests vs. Tennessee Tech (4-10) and the host Cowgirls (8-8) plus one match against Northern Iowa (7-6). 

ACU plays at 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. Friday vs. the Golden Eagles and Cowgirls, and on Saturday the Wildcats will battle the Panthers and Cowgirls at 1:30 and 6:30 p.m. Sunday's game against Tennessee Tech starts at 10 a.m. All games will offer live stats and a video stream.

The Wildcats rebounded from a winless weekend in Arizona with a 4-1 record at their tournament against Northern Colorado and Prairie View A&M. ACU swept its first two doubleheaders against the Bears and Panthers by scores of 5-2, 11-2, 6-0 and 11-0, before losing its finale to UNC, 5-3, on Sunday.

Freshman Sidney Holman tossed her first collegiate no-hitter in the 11-0 win over Prairie View as part of a 2-0 weekend that includes a 2.33 ERA and 19 strikeouts, and redshirt junior Hannah Null went 2-1 with a 1.24 ERA and 17 Ks. Null also was credited with a shutout victory in beating the Bears last Saturday, 6-0.

Overall, ACU pitching limited opposing hitters to a .118 batting average while the Wildcats hit .316 led by junior shortstop Peyton Hedrick. The Forney, Texas, native went 9-for-16 (.563) with 10 runs and eight RBI. She also totaled 19 bases for a slugging percentage of 1.188.

Three additional everyday starters hit over .350 as well. Junior first baseman Brianna Barnhill hit .455 with three extra-base hits. Junior third baseman Holly Neese hit .357 with three RBI and a pair of stolen bases, and senior center fielder Taylor Brown batted .353 with five runs scored, including one on an inside-the-park home run. 

Newcomer Blair Clayton also hit a home run for ACU as part of a 2-for-6 (.333) weekend at the plate. 

Oklahoma State comes into its tournament with an 8-8 record following Wednesday's 7-6 home loss to Arkansas. OSU is led offensively by Vanessa Shippy (.405), Taylor Lynch (12 RBIs) and Rylee Bayless (10 runs scored). In the circle, Brandi Needham (5-2, 1.82 ERA) has been the Cowgirls' top performer.

Northern Iowa comes into the weekend with a 7-6 record, but has lost its last three games, including a 2-1 loss to the Southland Conference's Sam Houston State. The Panthers also were shutout 8-0 vs.  Louisiana Tech and suffered a 6-2 loss to McNeese State at last week's Louisiana Tech Classic.
 
Bailey Lange leads UNI offensively with a .364 average and 10 RBI, while Alyssa Buchanan (3-1, 2.48 ERA) and Lange (3-4, 2.68 ERA) lead the Panthers from the circle.

Tennessee Tech is 4-10, but went 3-2 at last weekend's South Alabama Invitational where all three of its wins were against Southland Conference school's Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Stephen F. Austin. The Golden Eagles are led at the plate by Gabby Perez (.367) and Hallie Davis (.293, 10 RBI, 4 HR), while the pitching staff is composed of Taylor Waldrop (1-1, 3.35 ERA), Danielle Liberatore (2-4, 4.24 ERA) and Leigh Ellen Thomas (1-5, 5.75 ERA) .