HOUSTON --
Samantha Bradley scattered seven hits and struck out two in a complete game effort Friday night at Husky Field, leading the Wildcats to a 4-2 victory over Houston Baptist in game one of their doubleheader.
The Huskies, however, would rally to win game two, 10-6, setting up Saturday's noontime rubber game to determine the series victor.
Bradley only tossed 66 pitches (9.4 per inning) and induced 13 ground balls (three fly outs) in winning her second game of the spring. HBU had runners in scoring position the first three innings, including with the bases loaded in the third, but the senior from Azle, Texas, escaped that jam with a swinging strikeout of No. 3 hitter Autumn Sydlik.
The Huskies eventually broke Bradley's shutout bid the following inning on a two-run home run by Jasie Roberts, but it was smooth sailing for Bradley and the defense afterward as they retired HBU's 12 final batters (nine via ground out).
On offense, ACU jumped out to a 3-0 lead by the third inning. Bradley, who went 1-for-2 at the plate with a walk and run scored, came home on
Caroline Adair's two-out, two-run single in the second that also plated
Donelle Johnson. Then in the third,
Katelyn Belch scurried home on a throw down to second base to get pinch runner
Blakeli Brookreson.
ACU would add an all-important insurance run in the seventh on
Calie Burris' two-out double that scored Adair from second base.
Game two started as a tug of war as the sides exchanged the lead five times by the fourth inning.
The Wildcats tied the score at 2-2 in the second on a two-out error by the Huskie's first baseman, allowing both
Shaylee Alani (3-4, 2 runs) and Johnson (1-2, 2 runs) to score, but a Wildcat fielding miscue in the third allowed HBU to go back up 3-2.
One frame later the Wildcat were poised to have a very big inning as pinch hitter
Val Rudd cleared the bases with a three-run double (no outs) against starter Sarah Venker, but the Huskies soon turned to their bullpen of Katy Janes and Lyndie Swanson, who combined to toss 4.0 shutout innings to close the game.
Rudd's clutch hit gave ACU a short-lived 6-3 lead as Sydlik would hit a game-tying three-run home run in the fourth. The Huskies further helped their cause with a four-run sixth, highlighted by Riley Bullen's three-run double with two outs.
ACU had two quality chances to score in the fifth and seventh innings. They again loaded the bases with no outs in the fifth, only to by stymied by a fielder's choice that resulted in a putout at home plate followed by two Ks. In the seventh they stranded two runners in scoring position.
