Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 ABILENE – The ACU softball team opened its 10-game home stand Friday with a Southland Conference double-dip with the Nicholls Colonels, and the visitors from Thibodaux, La. had all the fun with 12-4 and 5-4 victories. The Wildcats (7-17, 1-7 SLC) surrendered a seven-run third inning in the opener that spelled doom, while four runs in a two-frame span in game two proved to be the difference.
The two teams will get together for the series finale Saturday at 12 p.m. at Poly Wells Field.
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Game 1: Nicholls 12, ACU 4
The Wildcats jumped out to a 3-0 lead through two innings in the opener, but the lead quickly went away when the Colonels (14-13, 4-1 SLC) scored seven times in the third.
Calie Burris lasted 2.2 innings but allowed seven runs (three earned) on six hits. Freshman
Jillian Hefner went 4.1 innings in relief.
Nicholls hit five homers in the game, and built a 10-3 lead heading to the bottom of the sixth. ACU added a run, but the visitors scored twice more in the top of the seventh.
Burris,
Samantha Bradley,
Blair Clayton, and
Linsey Tomlinson each had an rbi for the Wildcats.
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Game 2: Nicholls 5, ACU 4
This time is was the Colonels who got out to the good start. An rbi-single in the first gave Nicholls a 1-0 lead, and it was pushed to 3-0 with a double and a homer in third. The fifth inning featured the seventh visiting home run of the day, and Nicholls led 5-0.
ACU tried to overcome the deficit, and gave it all they could. The offense got going in the home fifth with a Burris sacrifice fly and a Clayton home run. ACU trailed 5-3 at that point, but after a scoreless sixth, had just three outs to score twice.
In the last of the seventh trialing by two, a one-out single by
Kayla Keeling started the rally. After a flyout, Burris and Clayton drew back-to-back walks to load the bases with two down. Tomlinson then drew the third-straight walk to score a run, but a
Caroline Adair ended the rally and the game.
Bradley went the distance, allowing five runs on 11 hits in the loss. Offensively, Bradley and Clayton led the way with two hits apiece.
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