BEAUMONT, Texas – There were no late-game heroics Wednesday for ACU Softball. A day removed from their thrilling extra-inning triumph over UT Arlington, the Wildcats were simply were bested by their opposition, losing both ends of a NISC Regional doubleheader to Lamar (6-1) and Louisiana Monroe (7-0).
In each of today's contests at the Lamar Softball Complex, the opposing side placed a crooked number on the scoreboard early in the game and the Wildcats' offense couldn't recover against the likes of Ciara Luna and Paige Porter. Luna – the Cardinals' ace – fired a four-hitter with five strikeouts, and Porter followed with a four-hit shutout.
ULM now has to beat Lamar twice Thursday in order to advance to next week's NISC Championship round, while the Cardinals are a victory away in this double-elimination format after having beat the Warhawks, 7-5, Tuesday night.
As for the Wildcats, 2017 was their best season yet as a DI program. They posted a .600 winning percentage at 33-22 and finished second in the 12-team Southland Conference at 20-7. A majority of the team's starters received all-conference recognition, and coming back to lead next year's team will be first team honorees
Peyton Hedrick (.374 - 15- 52) and
Holly Neese (.295 - 5 - 32) and Southland Freshman of the Year
Sidney Holman who went 21-7 in her first collegiate season with a 1.85 ERA and 165 strikeouts.
The Wildcats also will bring back the program's career strikeout leader
Hannah Null (405 K) for her senior season in addition to all-conference first baseman
Brianna Barnhill (.277 - 8 -37) and honorable mention left fielder
Braegan Hamilton (.282 - 26 runs - 20 RBI).
Holman and Null recorded the most strikeouts in a single season for any Wildcat club with 298 and came within a hair of setting the program record for lowest ERA. The 1997 Wildcats recorded a 2.30 ERA, and this year's team had a 2.36 ERA in addition to 11 shutouts that were one shy of the school season record of 12 from 2006.
Offensively, the Wildcats didn't set any season records but senior center fielder and first team all-conference selection
Taylor Brown put the finishing touches on a Hall of Fame Career, hitting .337 with 43 runs, six triples, 20 RBI and two inside-the-park home runs. She leaves the Wildcats as its all-time leader in several offensive categories, including hits (229), runs (155), triples (27), at-bats (635) and stolen bases (58).
Hedrick mashed the ball for a third-consecutive year, and during the final weekend of the regular season she became ACU's all-time home run queen with 39. Should the Forney, Texas, native duplicate this year's numbers once again in 2018 she will easily break several school records, including some of those currently held by Brown as Hedrick goes into next season with 134 runs, 181 base hits, 35 doubles and 133 RBI.
Records aside, the Wildcats recorded more than a few milestone victories this spring. During the opening weekend at Texas State, ACU shut out the host Bobcats, 1-0, with Holman striking out 10 in her first collegiate start. Two days later, Holman whiffed a season-high 11 vs. Iowa as all-conference third baseman
Casey-May Huff (.246 - 3 - 22) tied a program record with two home runs vs. the Hawkeyes in a 3-1 win.
The Wildcats bounced back from a winless weekend in Arizona with strong tournament showings at home and Oklahoma State, and began to hit their stride at the start of Southland Conference play. ACU won its first four league series with sweeps of Southeastern Louisiana, Houston Baptist and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi mixed in, and during April's slate of games, the Wildcats registered two convincing non-conference wins over Texas Tech (5-1) and North Texas (6-2).
ACU was in contention for the league's regular-season title for much of the season, and even after McNeese clinched first-place behind a 24-3 record, the Wildcats made sure to secure runner-up honors with a home sweep of Stephen F. Austin, winning by scores of 13-0, 5-1 and 5-2.
ACU's solid finish helped it qualify for postseason play, and while the NISC is nice for a team at the tail end of its DI transition, the Wildcats' goal for next and future seasons is to win the Southland Conference regular season and tournament championships and become one of the school's first programs to reach the NCAA Championships.
