NORMAN, Okla.— The Wildcats came into the weekend knowing they would be facing some of their toughest competition of the year at the Courtyard Marriott Tournament hosted by Oklahoma. Not only would they face the national runner-up Sooners, but they would take on North Texas and Northwestern, both teams who are receiving votes in the coaches' poll. ACU began the tournament facing UNT and never faltered or seemed intimidated by their competition. Despite two losses on the day, the team competed throughout, falling 5-2 to the Mean Green and 4-2 to Oklahoma.
Game 1
Samantha Bradley got the start in the circle for ACU as they faced the Mean Green for the second time this season. Sinnott was in the circle for the first meeting where the Wildcats fell 6-0. Bradley held her own against a tough team, but an error and three hits in the third inning were all UNT needed to secure a win. ACU gave up five runs in the top of the inning, but they never backed down at the plate. Bradley pitched four solid innings after the third and the Wildcats put up two runs in the bottom of the fifth but never got enough offense going to close the gap.
Game 2
The Wildcats showed no concern in game two that they were about to face the national runner-up and fifth-ranked Sooners. In much the same fashion as game one, it was one inning that hurt ACU and they were unable to put up enough runs to get back in the game.
Alivia Sinnott pitched a solid three inning to start the game giving up just three hits and one run. The Sooners locked in on Sinnott in the fourth, sending three balls out of the park, forcing the Wildcats to go with Jill Hefner the rest of the way. The sophomore pitched two and two-thirds shutout innings for one of her best outings of the season. ACU was able to tack on a run in both the fifth and sixth innings including a bomb from
Lacy Johnson for her first career homerun, but the team came up just short with ACU falling 4-2.
Stat pack
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Jillian Hefner had one of her best career outings going 2.2 innings with no runs and two hits.
- Freshman,
Val Rudd, was back in action after being sidelined with an injury in opening weekend. She had four plate appearances, drawing a walk, and started at second base against Oklahoma.
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Briana Tijerina hit her third triple of the season against Oklahoma and scored a run on a sac fly.
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Kayla Keeling's two-run shot against North Texas was her first homerun of the season. She now has 10 RBIs on the season which is tied for second on the team.
- Through 18 games on the season
Lacy Johnson is leading the team in batting average at .351.
- Bradley sat down five North Texas hitters via the strikeout for her third highest total on the season.
Farler Figures
On her team adjusting to their second time facing UNT: "I thought the team did great making adjustments against UNT. It was a solid game from our squad and I thought our girls competed well in all areas. Sam threw a great game and fought hard."
On the pitchers throwing a solid game against OU: "Alivia had a great game and kept the OU hitters off balance. If she could take back 3 pitches, it's a different game. I thought she showed great command of her pitches tonight. Jill did exceptionally well in her relief role and got us the exact outs we asked her to."
On Johnson's solid play early in the season: "Lacy had a great homerun tonight. It's exciting to see her come through with some pretty big hits already this early in her college career."
On what the team needs to do to continue their success tomorrow: "We need to continue to build confidence and learn from each game. Today we raised the bar on what we expect from our program. I'm excited to see what the team comes with tomorrow."
Up next
The Wildcats continue their play at the Courtyard Marriott tournament in Norman, Okla. with a game against Northwestern Saturday morning at 10 a.m. Following that game the teams will be seeded based on their records so far on the weekend and will play one more game Saturday afternoon.
