HOUSTON—ACU continued their trip in Houston with an afternoon doubleheader at Texas Southern. The Wildcats would get the split on the day, falling 6-5 in game one before rallying for an 8-3 victory in the second. The Wildcats used their speed as an advantage, stealing nine bases on the day, and were able to end a five-game skid.
Game 1
ACU was the first to strike, putting up two runs in the second inning. With runners on second and third,
Val Rudd laid down a sacrifice bunt to bring in a run and two batters later
Shaylee Alani doubled in another. The Tigers would answer with four runs in the bottom of the third.
Calie Burris launched a three-run homer to retake the lead in the fifth, but TSU came back to grab the lead in the bottom of the inning on back-to-back walks with the bases loaded. ACU were able to get a couple runners on base in the top of the seventh but couldn't bring them home.
Game 2
The Wildcats speed helped them to an early lead in the second inning.
Katelyn Belch singled and was able to steal second to get into scoring position and two batters later
Shaylee Alani drove her in with a double. The Tigers evened the score at 1-1, but the Wildcats would retake the lead on an error by the TSU shortstop that allowed Rudd to score from second. TSU put up one run in each of the third and fourth innings to take the 3-2 lead but they wouldn't score again the rest of the way. ACU would take the lead for good in the fifth behind an RBI from Rudd and
Briana Tijerina scoring from third on an error. The Wildcats were able to pile on the runs in the top of the seventh scoring four runs on five hits and tallying three stolen bases in the inning.
Riley White shut the door on the Tigers in the bottom of the seventh and ACU earned the 8-3 win.
Stat pack
- Burris tallied her third homerun of the season with a three-run shot in game one, one of her four hits on the day.
- The Wildcats stole nine bases on the day with seven coming in the second game. The nine bases were stolen by nine different players.
- Val Rudd and Katelyn Belch each hit a triple in the second game, the first two triples for the Wildcats on the season and Rudd's first of her career.
- Riley White earned her second win of the season, throwing a complete game with four strikeouts.
- Four players notched multi-hit games on the day with Rudd and Burris having multi-hit outings in both.
Farler Figures
On the Wildcats success on the basepaths: "Today we were able to capitalize on one of our strengths with our baserunning. It was fun to watch our team take chances and advance 60 feet."
On Burris and Alani finding success at the plate: "We saw great at bats from Shaylee and Calie both today. They competed in both games and gave us good balls to score on."
On the team being able to come back to earn the split in game two: "We dropped game one and really just did not compete well enough. Our pitching gave them too many free passes which resulted in runs. We knew going into game two that we needed to be tougher all the way around, at the plate, on defense and in the circle. I was pleased with the response from the team. They were able to rally and string some hits together at the end of the game to secure the win."
Up next
ACU will close out their weekend with a doubleheader back at Houston. They played a tight game with the Cougars on Friday night and will have a chance to come away with a couple wins.
