ABILENE - The ACU softball team defeated Southern Utah 2-1 on a blustery Saturday to complete the three-game sweep of the visiting Thunderbirds.
The Wildcats outscored Southern Utah by a combined score of 9-1 over the three games, and held the T-Birds scoreless through the first 20 innings of the series.
It is the program's first sweep since March 2023. Those three victories also came at home against Southern Utah.
"We had a really good week of practice, and being able to see some of the things we practice translate to a game was really big for our team," said first-year head coach Jo Koons. "They've been working hard and haven't seen the results. So they can know the work is paying off on the other side, and it encourages them to go back to the work and do it again for the next weekend."
Emalee Romero and
Taylor Bachmeyer posted back-to-back outfield singles in the bottom fo the third.
Elizabeth Schaefer then came up with a single to left that scored both Wildcats. The throw at the plate was bobbled and popped in the air, which allowed Bachmeyer to make a heads up play and spring home to put ACU on top, 2-0.
Starting pitcher
Chase Mueller (1-5) earned her first win of the season. She threw 4 innings of shutout ball, allowing four hits.
Ella Beeman entered in relief for the 5th and 6th innings and also kept the Thunderbirds off the scoreboard. Southern Utah loaded the bases in the 6th, but Beeman forced a pop-out to shortstop
Audrey Lacina to end the threat.
Friday's star pitcher
Lina Russo closed the door in the 7th inning with a great catch on a screaming comebacker followed by two ground outs to Romero at second base.
"I think it is continuing to get better and more consistent," said Koons. "We've talked a lot about the power of their response. They're learning they can do that faster and faster. That's the key to this game: learning how to fail and fail quick, and know what you have to do to adjust."
Russo threw a no-hitter in the series opener on Friday, and then a complete game shutout in game two. She collected the save in Saturday's contest. In all, she threw 15 innings with no earned runs allowed.
Koons also praised the play of
Miranda Lista and
Julianna Martinez this weekend.
"Lista was really good defensively. She's continuing to get better every week. JuJu had some good at-bats. She had a huge RBI on Friday [in game 2]. Slappers don't have RBI often, but that was huge."
Up Next: ACU improves to 7-22 overall and 3-3 in the WAC with the three wins. The Wildcats travel down I-20 to face UT Arlington next weekend for a single-game Friday night at 6 p.m., followed by a Saturday doubleheader beginning at 12 p.m.
All three games are scheduled to be streamed on ESPN+.
ACU will be back at Poly Wells Field on Friday, March 28 when they play a pair of games versus Utah Tech starting at 2 p.m. on Big Country Day.
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