ST. GEORGE, Utah – Abilene Christian used a grand slam by
Sammie Shelander to claim a doubleheader split at Utah Tech on Friday to open Western Athletic Conference action.
Utah Tech won the first game 9-6 before ACU stormed back for a 9-2 win in the second game.
Kaydee Bennett singled and scored on a sacrifice fly by
Catrin Hoffman for a 1-0 lead in the first but Utah Tech scored twice in the home half of the inning for a 2-1 lead.
Sydney Kaiser tied the game in the fourth on an RBI single but the Blazers again took the lead in the home half of the inning, going up 5-2. UTU added a run in the fifth for a 6-2 lead.
Riley White scored on a wild pitch and
Olivia Marble ripped a bases-loaded double on a full count for three RBIs and a 6-6 game.
The Blazers again answered in their half of the inning, getting the final three runs of the game.
ACU had eight hits in the game, led by Bennett with two. Shelander,
Bubba Rote and
Skylar Padgett also had hits with Shelander getting a double.
White took the pitching loss in relief.
The Wildcats scored the first seven runs of the second game, beginning with another first-inning sacrifice fly by Hoffman. Bennett added an RBI single in the second for the 2-0 margin.
ACU scored five in the fourth on an RBI ground out by Bennett ahead of Shelander's grand slam to left-center.
Utah Tech scored twice in the bottom of the fourth to break up the shutout.
The Wildcats came up with two more runs in the seventh with a pinch-hit RBI single by
Elizabeth Schaefer and a run-scoring throwing error.
Rote led ACU's 12-hit attack with three singles. Marble added a pair of doubles, Shelander had the grand slam and a double and White and Kaiser each added a single.
Talia Nielsen went the distance for the win.
