ABILENE - Abilene Christian softball completes its two-game home-and-home series with Tarleton Wednesday in Stephenville. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. Tickets can be purchased
here, and live scoring of the game can be found
here.
The Wildcats, who hadn't played the Texans since the close of their D2 era in 2013, won the series' first game earlier this month, 6-4, at Poly Wells Field. ACU trailed by as many as three runs (4-1) heading into the home half of the fifth, where they batted around against starter Julia Wernet and reliever Kallie Erwin (0-3) as part of a three-run frame.
Leadoff batter
Avery Miloch cut Tarleton's lead to 4-2 on a homer to straightaway center and two batters later, catcher
Kayla Keeling crushed the first of her two round-trippers.
Calie Burris, who slammed a solo shot in the fourth to break Wernet's shutout bit, kept the hit parade going with a double out to left center and later came around to score the game-tying run on
Shaylee Alani's bases-loaded walk.
Keeling added the go-ahead runs in the sixth, connecting off Erwin to give the Wildcats their first and only lead of the game.
With her team rallying behind her, Wildcat pitcher
Riley White escaped a two-on, one-out jam in the sixth by inducing a fly ball to center and ground ball to shortstop. She then sealed her third victory of the spring with a 1-2-3 seventh.
ACU enters its midweek contest coming off a Southland Conference series win at Houston Baptist. The Wildcats won games one and three behind Bradley's stellar pitching. She first scattered seven hits and struck out two in a complete game effort Friday, and followed that performance with a 4-0 shutout Saturday. Bradley also got the job done at the plate in the rubber game, going 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBI.
Bradley led the Wildcats in Houston with a .600 batting average and matched
Val Rudd with three RBI vs. the Huskies. In the circle, Bradley finished with a 1.00 ERA and 4/1 K:BB ratio.
Overall, the team hit .291 in its Southland Conference lid lifter, scoring 14 times with six extra-base hits (33 total bases). The Wildcats also swiped seven bases and allowed no stolen bases by HBU.
ACU is home this Friday (5/7 p.m.) and Saturday (12 p.m.) for a three-game series vs. Central Arkansas.
