ABILENE – Abilene Christian softball finished with its best NCAA DI-era record for a single-season Saturday after head coach
Bobby Reeves' Wildcats completed a three-game sweep of Stephen F. Austin on Senior Day at Poly Wells Field, 5-2.
With a postseason appearance still a possibility, the Wildcats completed their 2017 regular-season at 32-20 (.615) and placed second within the Southland Conference for the second-straight season at 20-7. ACU's 32 wins are the fourth most in program's 21-year history, and in terms of winning percentage, this year's Wildcats currently rank fifth all time.
Helping the Wildcats finish the season strong today was freshman pitcher
Sidney Holman, who allowed just two unearned runs on four hits and a walk with seven strikeouts in becoming ACU's first 20-game winner (20-6) since Jacque Gregoire (22-6) in 2009. The Belton native also posted a season earned run average of 1.74 and struck out 161 batters, 11 shy of the school's season record of 172 set by ACU Hall of Famer Shelly Owen in 1997.
Holman whiffed two batters during an efficient first inning but ran into some trouble in the second with her team already ahead 4-0. A leadoff hit by Kiriany Hornberger was followed by two uncharacteristic infield errors and shortstop Emily Wolfe capitalized with a RBI single to right field that loaded the bases. SFA cut its deficit in half after Holman uncorked a wild pitch, but would do no more damage that inning as Madison Clements and Katie Clark each grounded out.
Holman was steady for the remainder of the game, leaving at least one runner stranded on base between the third and fifth innings. She then finished the contest with seven-consecutive putouts with left fielder
Braegan Hamilton making a superb diving catch in foul territory that ended Clements' at-bat for the second out of the seventh.
The Wildcats got to SFA starter Callee Guffey right away, scoring four runs on four hits in the first inning.
Peyton Hedrick and
Holly Neese each singled to the right side and ACU loaded the bases after
Donelle Johnson was hit by a pitch. Hamilton followed with a bloop single to left field that bounced off the defender's glove, and Barnhill was hit by a pitch that made it a 2-0 game. Senior
Casey-May Huff then crushed a two-run double to right field.
Guffey finally got the last two outs, but was yanked from the game in favor of Makayla Sikes after
Taylor Brown led off the second with a double to left-center field. Sikes more than did her job for SFA as she totaled eight strikeouts over the last five innings, with her lone mistakes coming in the third inning where Huff's two-out walk was followed by senior
Kaleigh Singleton's RBI double to right-center field.
Sikes went on to strikeout the heart of the Wildcats' order in the fourth inning and left two on base with a punch out of
Alli Spivey in the fifth.
ACU now awaits the outcome of next week's Southland Conference Tournament to see if it will be invited to the inaugural National Invitational Softball Championship (NISC). The Wildcats are one of four Southland Conference teams being considered by event organizers, including the regular-season champions from McNesse, third-place Nicholls and fourth-place Lamar.
ACU should receive an invitation to the 48-team tournament if the Cowgirls win the tournament and represent the Southland in the NCAA Championships. The NISC's eight regional brackets are composed of six teams, and the first games will be played between May 16-18. The NISC Championship Round will be contested between May 21-24 and feature an eight-team double-elimination bracket.
