EL PASO, Texas—The Wildcats couldn't contain their excitement for opening day after last season was cut short due to the pandemic. The team opened the season with a monster win over UTEP where they put up 13 runs, before falling to No. 4 Oklahoma in their second game of the afternoon. Several Wildcats had solid debuts and six recorded multi-hit efforts in game one.
Game 1
It was an offensive eruption for the Wildcats in game one as they put up 13 runs on 18 hits, including six extra-base hits.
Avery Miloch got the scoring started for the Wildcats in the top of the second with a three-run bomb on the first pitch of her collegiate career.
Samantha Bradley accounted for the next three runs for the Wildcats on a solo homerun and a two-run homer in consecutive at bats. ACU held a 6-2 lead and UTEP would cut the lead to just one run in the bottom of the fifth before Bradley answered with a bases clearing double to push the lead to 9-5. ACU put together another dominant offensive stretch in the top of the seventh, scoring four more runs before holding off UTEP in the bottom of the inning to earn their first win of the year.
Game 2
The second game of the day was a tougher matchup for ACU as they faced one of the best teams in the country, fourth-ranked Oklahoma. Freshman
Riley White had the tough task of pitching against an offense that had put up 29 runs in their first game of the day. The Sooners took the early lead drawing a walk while the bases were loaded, before clearing the bases with a grand slam to go up 5-0 in the bottom of the first. The Wildcats and White were able to settle in after that but the pitching for Oklahoma proved to be a tough test, holding ACU to just one hit, and went on to take the 9-0 win in five innings.
Stat pack
- Bradley went 4-4 against UTEP while also earning her first win in the circle.
- Newcomers, Shaylee Alani, Miloch, and White all had multi-hit performances in their Wildcat debuts.
- The Wildcats had 18 different players appear in the first game against UTEP, each player contributing to the win
- The Wildcats played four freshmen in the first game and two appeared in both games on the day.
- ACU's four homeruns against UTEP is tied for the most in the team's DI era, the only other time a team had four homers in a game was against HBU in 2014.
- After being held without a hit against UTEP, Val Rudd accounted for the Wildcats lone hit against the Sooners.
Farler Figures
On getting back on the field to compete: "Today felt great! There was so much excitement from everyone. I think there is a renewed sense of gratitude to be able to be on the field competing together."
On the offensive strategy coming into the weekend: "Our offensive strategy is pretty simple. We want to do damage and take hard cuts. We were excited to see some new live pitching and the team came ready to show what they were capable of."
On the takeaways from the OU game: "The game against OU had a ton of positives. We really had more positive takeaways than negative. I don't feel that the box score gives a totally accurate picture of the game. We had some great AB's that didn't result in hits and our freshman pitcher really battled hard the whole game. Defensively we made some good adjustments to our positioning which shut down potentially big hits. The experience for the whole team was great to stay up and continue to battle after getting in a large hole the first inning."
On returning to action tomorrow against the same teams: "Going into tomorrow we will adjust to whatever pitching we face and continue to play our style of ball. The team is really embracing the risk taking and "all hands on deck" mentality right now. I'm excited to see them show up with energy and fight again tomorrow!"
Up next
The team will have another doubleheader tomorrow morning beginning at 11 a.m. CT. The Wildcats will face the Sooners at 11 as the home team, before closing out the tournament with a game against UTEP at approximately 1:30 p.m. CT.
