ABILENE – The Wildcat softball squad opened its three-game series with the Cardinals of Incarnate Word Friday night, and the teams traded 9-5 wins to earn the split. ACU was outhit 27-20, but took advantage in the opener to earn the victory. After the doubleheader, the Wildcats sit at 9-19 on the year and 2-9 in Southland play. UIW is now 3-23, and 1-7 in league play.
The teams will get together for the rubber match Saturday at Poly Wells Field, with first pitch slated for 12 p.m.
Game 1: ACU 9, UIW 5
Incarnate Word got off to a good start offensively against ACU starter
Calie Burris, scoring twice in the first inning. Burris lasted 1.1 innings before being replaced by
Samantha Bradley, who finished the game to earn the win. The Wildcat bats would answer the call, tying the game in both the first and third innings, taking the lead in the fourth, and never looking back.
Katelyn Belch doubled to lead off the bottom of the first, and would come around to score on what was supposed to be a sacrifice bunt from
Linsey Tomlinson. Instead, the throw was wide of the bag at first, allowing the run to score on an error. ACU would tie it with an rbi-groundout from
Blair Clayton, evening the game at 2-2.
After UIW took the lead in the second, the 'Cats would even things up again in the third when Tomlinson doubled home Belch. Even though ACU was being outhit to that point, the offense was taking advantage of opportunities. The fourth inning benefited from that.
Bobby Reeves' club would take the lead for good in the fourth, and it began with a bang. Burris, who became the designated player, launched her first home run of the season to right field to lead off the frame, and ACU was off and running. With runners on the corners, Belch stepped up and ripped her first homer of the season, also to right field. The homers bookended a three-run inning to take the lead 6-3.
Anna Grace Johnson got in the rbi-column in the with a two-run double in the fifth inning, and the Wildcats opened the lead to 8-3 at that point. After UIW scored twice in the sixth to draw within 8-5, ACU needed another run to get full insurance. The 'Cats did so in the sixth, when Clayton doubled to left center to score Belch, who was all over the base paths in game one, scoring four times.
ACU held on 9-5, behind Belch's 4-for-4 performance, with the four runs and a pair of RBI. Burris tallied two hits with a run driven in, while Clayton and Johnson added two RBI each themselves. ACU left six on base, but Burris and Bradley combined to leave 11 Cardinals on the base paths throughout the game.
Bradley (3-12) went 5.2 innings, allowing just one earned run on nine hits, while striking out two.
Game 2: UIW 9, ACU 5
Again it was the Cardinals who jumped out in front, but the difference was the visitors would never trail this time around. A four-run first inning off ACU start
Jillian Hefner forced a pitching change just four batters in, and UIW was off and running. Bradley went 3.1 innings in relief before giving way to Burris, who finished the game for the 'Cats.
Hefner would take the loss, falling to 1-3 on the season.
ACU got on the board in the home second when
Caroline Adair singled on the right side of the infield to plate
Kaitlyn Huseman, who tripled to start the inning. The freshman would have a big game two for the Wildcats, going 2-for-3, with both hits being of the extra-base variety. Her second one occurred in the fourth.
Trailing 7-1, Huseman stepped in and crushed one to right center field for her first career home run. The Saginaw, Texas native matched Burris with a team-high two rbi in game two. ACU was within four at 7-3, but could not get closer.
UIW added two runs in the top of the fifth, and ACU left four runners on the fifth and sixth innings combined while training 9-3. Burris hit her second homer of the night in the bottom of the seventh, but the comeback was not enough as the Cardinals responded with a 9-5 win of their own.
Belch finished the doubleheader 5-for-8 with four runs scored, a double, a homer, and a pair of RBI. Huseman's 3-for-6 day earned her eight total bases, and was spectacular as shortstop once again. Burris' two homers led the way, with ACU hitting four long balls Friday night.
