ABILENE – Abilene Christian softball fell into a tie for second place in the Southland Conference with Nicholls at 11-2 after the Colonels held on for a 3-2 victory Friday night in the first of three games between two of the league's best pitching staffs. The two sides resume their series Saturday with a noon doubleheader.
McNeese, meanwhile, pulled into sole possession of first place in the Southland Conference at 13-1 after sweeping today's twin bill at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi by scores of 7-1 and 4-0.
Facing a pitching staff with a league-best 2.15 ERA, 24 wins and 218 strikeouts, the Wildcats couldn't afford to make any mistakes, and yet after being down 2-0 in the early stages they found a way to come back and tie the score by the fourth inning. Junior shortstop
Peyton Hedrick cut the Wildcats' deficit in half with her third-inning double to the left-center gap that plated
Taylor Brown all the way from first base, and in the fourth, freshman second baseman
Tori Poullard blooped a triple down the right-field line that scored
Braegan Hamilton.
Unfortunately, in each of those instances both Hedrick and Poullard were left stranded at third base as the Wildcats were unable to string together any succession of base hits. And after ACU put its first two runners on base to begin the sixth via walk and infield single, the Colonels brought in reliever Megan Landry who retired all six batters she faced with three strikeouts.
Landry's save was her second of the spring and earned it after whiffing Poullard and pinch hitter
Donelle Johnson to end the sixth with one out and runners at second and third base. She then closed the game with a strikeout of Hedrick.
Sidney Holman started for the Wildcats and tossed her ninth complete game of the season with nine strikeouts. She also walked five batters, including two in the first inning that helped the Colonels take a 1-0 lead.
Holman struck out Samantha Mracich to begin the contest but walked the Colonels' No. 2 and 3 batters to bring up shortstop Amanda Gianelloni, who punched a single up the middle to score Brooke Morris. The Wildcats' rookie would escape that jam with a ground out and strikeout, but again found herself in trouble in the second because of a hit and an error.
Veronica Villafranco led off the second with a single up the middle, and her pinch runner Maegan Ellis advanced to second on Haley Stevenson's sacrifice bunt. The next batter Sydney Bourg ground out to short, and after Hedrick threw her out at first base, Ellis took off for third and the throw from
Brianna Barnhill sailed wide of the bag, allowing the run the score.
Mracich then reached third on a throwing error by Holman but was stranded after Morris grounded out to
Casey-May Huff at third base.
It certainly seemed like the Wildcats were back in control of the game not long afterward as the tying run coincided with Holman retiring seven of nine batters the second time through the Nicholls' lineup. But moments after the score was tied at 2-2, Mracich's leadoff single was followed by a three-base throwing error as Huff tried to wrangle a bunt dropped down by Morris. The ball spun like a top as Huff tried to get a handle on it, and her throw sailed over the outstretched glove of Poullard and into the no-man's land down the right-field line.
Holman went on to strike out the side in the fifth, and finished her outing with a punch out of Gianelloni. The Belton, Texas, native finished with 131 pitches.
