ABILENE – Abilene Christian exploded for a couple of seven-run games to go 2-0 on the first day of the ACU Tournament with wins of 7-1 over Houston Christian and 7-3 over New Mexico.
Kaydee Bennett, who had five hits on the day, got the scoring going in the first game with an RBI triple in the third inning.
After HCU tied the game with an unearned run in the fourth, ACU stormed back for its final six runs in the home half.
Skylar Padgett,
Bubba Rote and
Olivia Marble produced RBI singles and Bennett tripled in two runs and scored on an error on the play.
Bennett had three hits to lead ACU's eight-hit game. Rote added two with Marble,
Catrin Hoffman and Padgett contributing one each.
Talia Nielsen went the distance with no earned runs and six strikeouts to move to 1-1 on the season.
Rote gave ACU a 1-0 lead in the second inning of the second game with an RBI double but UNM scored three times in the third inning.
The Cats tied the game in the bottom of the third on RBI singles by
Sydney Kaiser and Padgett.
Riley White ripped a three-run bomb to left in the fourth for a 6-3 lead and Marble doubled home a run in the fifth.
ACU had 10 hits, led by Bennett, Marble, and Kaiser with two each while
Sammie Shelander, White, Padgett and Rote contributed one.
Lina Russo got her first win of the season, going seven innings with five strikeouts with no earned runs.
The tournament continues on Saturday with Marist playing Houston Christian at noon, New Mexico taking on HCU at 2:30 p.m. and the Wildcats meeting Marist at 5 p.m.
