AUSTIN, Texas –
ALEX MAYFIELD's walk-off single in the bottom of the eighth inning capped off an exciting doubleheader sweep of Lubbock Christian to open up Heartland Conference play Friday afternoon at Diane Daniels Field. The Hilltoppers took the opener, 2-1, and followed that up with the 6-5 victory in game two.
Game 1: SEU, 2-1In the first three innings, it was a pitcher's duel between Lubbock Christian's Katera Eltsosie and St. Edward's
ASHLEE REX. Neither pitcher gave up a run through the first three frames.
Lubbock Christian (16-7, 0-2 HC) drew first blood in the fourth inning when Lindzi Clemmer led off the inning with a double to the gap in left field. After a sacrifice bunt moved her to third base, she came in to score the game's first run on a sacrifice fly by Morgan Coulburn.
It wasn't until the bottom of the sixth inning until St. Edward's (12-6, 2-0 HC) made its move.
ALEX MAYFIELD led off the inning with an infield single. She proceeded to steal second base and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt from
NICOLE PARNELL.
MORGAN DUFOUR stepped up to the plate and ripped the first pitch she saw over the left field fence to give St. Edward's a 2-1 advantage. It was the sophomore third baseman's fourth homer of the year.
Rex (2-1) left the game after six inning of work, allowing just one run on two hits, while walking one and striking out another. She would pick up the victory.
LAUREN SLATTEN came on to work the seventh inning and struck out two batters to pick up her first career save.
SAMANTHA GILMORE tallied two hits on the game for St. Edward's to lead the offense.
Game 2: SEU, 6-5 (8)The Lady Chaps, again, jumped out first on the home team as they pushed across two runs in the second inning.
St. Edward's responded in a big way in the bottom of the second. It first looked as if the Hilltoppers would not respond. After a leadoff walk by
SAMI WILLIAMS, pinch runner Jinny Strickland was thrown out trying to steal second.
BREAH WHITTEN followed with a double down the left field line and advanced to third base on an illegal pitch.
KACI OLSON singled in Whitten to cut the lead in half. Hoffman singled through the left side to put runners at first and second. Mayfield made it three singles in a row, knocking in Olson. After a popup for the second out, Dufour came up big again. She launched a triple off of the centerfield fence to plate two more runs. That gave the Hilltoppers a 4-2 lead.
Both teams would trade runs, with Lubbock Christian getting a run in the third inning and St. Edward's picking up a tally in the fifth inning on an RBI-groundout from Williams.
It looked as if the Hilltoppers would take the victory, but a clutch two-run home run by Colburn in the top of the seventh inning tied the score, 5-5. That sent the game into the eighth inning.
Slatten (7-3) got the Lady Chaps in order and that set the stage for the walkoff. Whitten led off the inning with a bunt single and advanced to second on an illegal pitch. After Olson walked, Hoffman advanced both runners a base on a sacrifice bunt. Mayfield stepped up and dumped the 0-1 pitch into left field for the game-winner.
Slatten picked up the victory, allowing five runs on seven hits, while walking one and striking out three in 8.0 innings of work.
Both Dufour and Whitten led the charge offensively with two hits each.
"I couldn't be more excited about the direction our team is heading," head coach Lindsay Gardner said. "We are all coming together to find ways to win ball games. Plain and simple, we are competing at the plate, playing great defense, and our pitchers are hungry to be in the circle. This team is really starting to gel, and it's fun to part of it."
The Hilltoppers and Lady Chaps will concluded their three-game series with a single game Saturday at noon. Live video and stats will be available on the Hilltopper Athletic Website.
