HOUSTON—ACU headed to Houston to close out a busy week on the road for the Wildcats. In the team's first of five games on the weekend, they played at a high level against a tough Houston team. The Wildcats offense opened up after a tough start to the week and they competed on both sides of the ball in an exciting game.
The Wildcats got on the board first when
Avery Miloch took the first pitch of the game out of the park for her third homerun of the season.
Kayla Keeling followed suit just two batter later and ACU held the 2-0 lead early. The Cougars answered with two runs of their own in the bottom of the inning and tacked on a third run in the second, taking the 3-2 lead. Miloch then tied the game with another solo shot in her second at bat. The Wildcats would take the 4-3 lead on an RBI double from
Shaylee Alani in the fourth.
Riley White had a solid outing in the circle, but the Cougars' bats got to work in the bottom of the sixth and they put up three runs to take a 6-4 lead. The Wildcats had three outs to work with to try and tie or take the lead and they threatened early in the seventh.
Caroline Adair reached on an error to lead off the inning, advanced to second on a wild pitch, and then to third on a single from Randi Davila. It was Miloch once again who hit a single up the middle to score Adair and cut the UH lead to one. The Wildcats were unable to score again and dropped the game 6-5.
Stat pack
- With her two homeruns in her first two at bats, Miloch tallied her third and fourth homeruns of the season. Also, she had a homerun in three-straight at bats going back to her final at bat against North Texas.
- Keeling's homerun in her first plate appearance was her first hit of the season.
- Val Rudd had a solid day at the plate going 1-2 with a sacrifice hit.
- White went 5.1 innings with six earned runs in a loss, she moves to 1-3 on the season.
- Alivia Sinnott came in in relief and pitched 0.2 innings, giving up one hit and one walk.
Farler Figures
On having success moving Miloch to the leadoff position: "Moving Avery to lead off was based on how well she has been seeing the ball and how she has been putting it in play. It played out exactly how we were hoping-providing confidence to the rest of our hitters."
On White's growth early in the season: "Riley continues to learn and adjust. We tried to make some adjustments with pitch calls for her throughout the game as well and felt that it was helpful. She is learning how to handle some very tights strike zones and tough hitters."
On the team's energy and mindset during the game: "The team played for each other today. They played loose and had fun. They were able to remember their identity and it showed. It was a really quick turnaround for us this week, so it was on the players to make adjustments and learn from the beginning of the week since we couldn't practice as a team. Mindset is huge for us, so remembering the vision for who we are and how we want to play is critical."
Up next
The Wildcats will stay in Houston but head to Texas Southern for a Saturday afternoon doubleheader. The games will be at 1 and 3 p.m.
