ACU Softball Earns Road Conference Win

ARLINGTON, Texas - The ACU softball team bounced back from Friday's marathon 14-inning affair with UT Arlington to split the doubleheader on Saturday afternoon - first losing 7-0, and then beating the Lady Mavericks in the series finale, 4-1.

The Wildcats, now 8-24 overall and 4-5 in the WAC, sit in a three-way tie for 5th place after this weekend's games. ACU still has five conference sets remaining, including three at home (March 28-29 vs. Utah Tech; April 18-19 vs. Tarleton State; and May 2-3 vs. Grand Canyon).

On Friday, ACU lost 4-3 in the bottom of the 14th inning when a wild pitch bounced by the catcher, allowing a UTA runner to slide home safely. Pitcher Lina Russo went the distance with 203 pitches thrown in her 13.2 innings in the circle.

"Tough night [Friday], and despite an incredible pitching performance by Lina we came up short," said head coach Jo Koons. "It's hard to bounce back from long games like that, and I'm incredibly proud of the team and their fight to respond again and again.

"Whether the outcome goes our way or not, we keep learning and we continue to get better. This is a marathon, not a sprint. We are very much still in the hunt for the top third of the conference."

Below is a brief recap of Saturday's two games.

Game 1: UT Arlington 7, ACU 0 - The Wildcats blanked UTA in four separate innings, but hurt themselves with three errors which led to only two of UTA's seven runs scored as earned.

Chase Mueller started in the circle for ACU. She struck out three, but the Wildcats found themselves down 3-0 after the second inning. In the fifth the Lady Mavericks loaded the bases following a muffed throw, a single and a walk.

Ella Beeman replaced Mueller, but a fielding error on third baseman Miranda Lista allowed the inning to continue. A three-RBI double by UTA pushed made it a 7-0 game.


Game 2: ACU 4, UT Arlington 1 - Thirty minutes later the Wildcats were able to strike quickly when Audrey Lacina smacked a bases-loaded single to center which drove Taylor Bachmeyer home.

The next batter, Emalee Romero, hit a sacrifice fly to right which was deep enough to score Rachel Cook and give ACU a 2-0 edge.

The Wildcats tacked on an additional run in the third with another sac fly - this one by Audrey Lacina - to bring Bachmeyer around.

Beeman started the series finale and was efficient with just 67 pitches in 4+ innings of work. She allowed just one hit through three innings. In the fourth she escaped a bases-loaded jam by battling through a 7-pitch at-bat that ended with a fly out to center. On the next pitch she forced a ground out to first to end the frame.

Russo came on in the fourth inning and left two UTA runners stranded. She surrendered just one hit in her three innings to secure her second save of the season.



Up Next - ACU starts a season-long 5-game homestand when they host Utah Tech for a WAC series on Friday, March 28 and Saturday, March 29. A doubleheader begins Friday at 2 p.m. for Big Country Day. Both games are scheduled to be streamed on ESPN+. 

The series ends on with a single-game at noon on Saturday. 

Then it's back-to-back nonconference games with North Texas visiting Poly Wells Field on Tuesday, April 1. Texas Tech comes to town on Wednesday, April for ACU's Purple Out game.

Both midweek matchups have 6 p.m. start times.