DENTON, Texas – The St. Edward's Softball team had the lead early in both games of a doubleheader versus Texas Woman's on Sunday afternoon but dropped both games of a doubleheader to the Pioneers at Pioneer Field in non-conference action. Texas Woman's took the first game, 6-1, and completed the sweep in game two with a 9-3 victory.
Game 1: TWU, 6-1St. Edward's (12-9) started the first game off with a bang as
MORGAN DUFOUR launched her fifth home run of the year over the left field fence in the top of the first inning.
The Hilltoppers had a chance to blow the game wide open in the fourth inning. Dufour walked to start the inning, and was followed with back-to-back singles by
KAYLA APPLEBY and
SAMANTHA GILMORE. Texas Woman's (11-7) got two strikeouts sandwiched around a force out at home plate to escape the jam.
The Pioneers then started to get things rolling offensively as they put up two runs in the bottom of the fourth, three in the fifth, and one more in the sixth inning to go ahead, 6-1.
The Hilltoppers would not go away quietly as they loaded the bases in both the sixth and seventh innings, but each time Texas Woman's was able to escape any danger.
Game 2: TWU, 9-3The Hilltoppers started off on the right foot again as they put up a run in the top of the first inning. Olson walked with one out and advanced to third on a double by Dufour. She came in to score on a sacrifice bunt from Appleby for a 1-0 lead.
Texas Woman's, again, followed with a two-run home run in the third inning to take the lead. In the fifth inning, the Pioneers blew the game wide open as they plated five runs.
St. Edward's got two runs back in the sixth inning as
ALEX MAYFIELD had the big hit with a two-run triple to score
BREAH WHITTEN and
MEGAN HOFFMAN who had reached on singles.
After the Pioneers got both runs back in bottom of the sixth inning, the Hilltoppers were not done. The visitors loaded the bases with one out, but just like the rest of the day, Texas Woman's escaped, using a game-ending double play.
"I wish we would have played better softball today," head coach Lindsay Gardner said. "I believe we can compete with the top teams in our region, but we need to be more consistent at the plate. We need to do a better job of capitalizing on opportunities with runners in scoring position. We also need to make the easy plays on defense. We have made some incredibly difficult plays this year, but need to make the routine ones when given the chance."
St. Edward's will get back to Heartland Conference play this weekend as they host Newman for a three-game series. The series will open with a single game on Friday starting at 3 p.m. Saturday features a doubleheader between the two teams, with the first pitch slated for noon. All three games will have live video and stats on the Hilltopper Athletic Website.
