SAN ANTONIO – Junior first baseman
Brianna Barnhill torched Cardinal pitching in the second game of a doubleheader between Abilene Christian and Incarnate Word softball Friday night, going 4-for-5 with a single-game high five RBI. Her performance at the plate combined with a three-hit complete game by junior
Hannah Null led the Wildcats to an 11-2 victory and sweep of the twin bill at Cardinals Field.
ACU's two victories pulled them within a half game of Southland Conference leader McNeese (14-2), which lost a 4-3 decision tonight at Nicholls. The Cowgirls allowed two runs in the bottom of the fifth after taking a 3-2 lead vs. the Colonels (13-3), who sit a half game behind the Wildcats.
After pitching 3.0 scoreless innings to save game one, Null returned to the circle in game two spotted with a 3-0 first-inning lead. She retired six of the first batters she faced, and in the third inning, she escaped a two-out jam with runners at the corners by striking out the Cardinals' No. 3 batter Christy Trevino.
Null rolled through the UIW batting order a second time, but the home team staved off a run-rule loss by scoring two unearned runs in the sixth that cut their deficit to 9-2. In the seventh, Null's defense turned a double play following a leadoff single and she then closed the game with a swinging strikeout of Kellen Robles.
Null's seven strikeouts give her 101 on the season and her stretch of 18.0 innings without allowing an earned run has lowered her season ERA to 2.88.
The top half of ACU's batting order was responsible for 13 of the Wildcats' 15 base hits, but no one did more damage than Barnhill whose three-run home run to left in the sixth inning made it a 9-0 game. She also delivered RBI singles in the fifth and seventh innings.
Batting ahead of Barnhill in the No. 2 spot, junior shortstop
Peyton Hedrick went 3-for-5 with three runs and a RBI, while
Holly Neese went 3-for-4 with two RBI in the cleanup spot. Bargain Hamilton and
Alli Spivey also registered multi-hit games, combining for three runs and a RBI, and leadoff batter
Taylor Brown scored twice on a walk and infield single.
ACU scored three times on three hits and an error in the first and made it a 5-0 game in the fifth behind RBI singles from Barnhill and Hamilton. Hedrick pushed the lead to 6-0 with her RBI in the sixth that was followed by Barnhill's eighth round-tripper of the spring.
The Wildcats tacked on two runs in the seventh with two outs. Barnhill drove in Spivey with a single to left field and advanced to second base on one of four UIW errors. She then scored on
Holly Neese's single to right.
The Wildcats and Cardinals conclude their three-game series Saturday at noon.
Game 1 – Abilene Christian 4, Incarnate Word 3
Peyton Hedrick got the Wildcats on board with a first-inning RBI single and third-inning solo home run – her 12th of the spring in tying a career season high – but it was
Kaleigh Singleton's two-run single in the fourth that would serve as the game-winning hit in ACU's 4-3 win to begin a three-game series at UIW's Cardinals' Field.
Singleton delivered her shot down the left-field line with two out off starter Bridget Stein, scoring
Holly Neese who led off the frame with a walk and
Braegan Hamilton who reached on a first baseman's fielding error. The miscue allowed Neese to advance to third base, and Hamilton later would steal second base.
The two unearned runs proved to be the difference in the ball game as the Cardinals came right back with three runs in their half of the fourth. Starter
Sidney Holman retired the first 10 batters she faced but lost her bid for perfection on Victoria Bratcher's single through the left side. Christy Trevino followed with a double and an error by the second baseman allowed both base runners to score, making it a 4-2 game.
Two batters later, UIW cut its deficit to 4-3 on Monica Flores' RBI single to center that plated Mikaela Flores, whose run was unearned.
Head coach
Bobby Reeves let Holman finish the fourth so that she would earn her conference-leading 16th victory of the spring, and brought in
Hannah Null to begin the fifth. Null did not disappoint in her 3.0-inning relief appearance as she allowed just one base runner while chalking up two strikeouts. Null's save was her third of the year.
The Wildcats finished with nine base hits with multi-hit games coming from Hedrick, Singleton,
Alli Spivey and
Taylor Brown, who led the game off with her fourth triple of the season.
