HAMMOND, La.—ACU earned the doubleheader split on Friday night against the Lady Lions of Southeastern Louisiana. After a 6-2 loss in game one, the Wildcats bounced back to earn the 5-4 win in the nightcap.
Game 1
ACU was able to get on the board first to start the day when
Samantha Bradley doubled to bring in
Calie Burris from first. After SLU took a 2-1 lead, the Wildcats answered with a run in the third inning when
Shaylee Alani drew a walk with the bases loaded. The game would stay close until SLU put up three runs in the bottom of the sixth to go up 6-2, and the Wildcats weren't able to get their offense going in the top of the seventh.
Game 2
The Lady Lions rolled their offensive momentum from the end of game one to start game two as they took the early 1-0 lead over the Wildcats.
Donelle Johnson drove in a run in the top of the third to tie the game but SLU would answer with a run in the bottom of the inning to hold onto the one-run lead. After a scoreless fourth,
Val Rudd launched a two-run homerun that gave the Wildcats the momentary lead before the Lions tied it in the bottom of the inning. In the next inning, Johnson singled to right field, driving in a run, and capitalized on an error by the right fielder coming around to score herself taking the 5-3 lead. SLU was able to plate a run to get within one run, but
Riley White and the Wildcats defense shut the door to earn the 5-4 win.
Stat pack
- Johnson hit 4-8 on the day, scoring three runs and earning two RBI.
- Rudd hit her third homerun of the season and went 3-7 on the day with a walk.
- Burris didn't register a hit on the day but drew four walks and scored a run.
- Riley White threw a complete game for her fourth win of the season, she gave up just six hits with one earned run.
Farler Figures
On getting a good road win: "This was a quality win for us tonight on the road. I'm very proud of how well the team responded after game one to find a way to walk away with a win game two."
On grinding out a close win: "Winning a tight ball game that wasn't our cleanest game is huge. What we saw was that we have the ability to fight and play scrappy to get a win."
On the energy and support from the dugout: "The energy of our dugout and team as a whole was a big focus for us this week. It was so fun to see the team come out today and bring energy every inning. We understand the importance of giving verbal and non verbal energy to each other and today was huge to showcase how that helps bring us through the finish line."
Up next
The Wildcats will finish the three-game series with SLU on Saturday morning with first pitch at 11 a.m. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.
