AUSTIN, Texas – Besides a late offensive push, St. Edward's Softball held the top-ranked West Texas A&M offense in check for most of the doubleheader on Wednesday afternoon at Diane Daniels Field. The #1 Lady Buffs would squeak out a 1-0 win in game one on an unearned run, and win the second game, 5-2.
Game 1: WTAMU, 1-0In the first three innings, it was all pitching. Hilltopper starter
LAUREN SLATTEN was dealing early, striking out five Lady Buff hitters in the first three frames.
West Texas A&M (30-0) got on the board in the fourth inning. After a leadoff walk and a strikeout, Slatten got a ground ball to second base but the flip to second base for the force out was dropped by Hilltopper shortstop
MEGAN HOFFMAN. A bloop single loaded the bases and a sacrifice fly scored the runner from third for a 1-0 lead.
The score would stay the same for the next two innings. In the bottom of the sixth inning,
MORGAN DUFOUR rallied the Hilltoppers with a two-out double off of the wall in centerfield. Pinch-hitter
SHELBI ROOHMS punched a single to right field. Pinch runner Jinny Strickland rounded third but was gunned out at the plate by a perfect throw from the right fielder.
St. Edward's (14-12) could not get on the scoreboard in the seventh inning as West Texas A&M took game one, 1-0.
Slatten (8-6) was the tough-luck loser, allowing one unearned run on five hits, while walking three and striking out eight batters. The one run was the lowest output for the Lady Buffs this season, as they came into the game averaging almost 10 runs per contest.
Game 2: WTAMU, 5-2West Texas A&M wasted no time getting on the board as they plated a run in the top of the first inning. A two-out double by Ashley Hardin put the Lady Buffs ahead, 1-0.
West Texas A&M put the first crooked number on the scoreboard in the fifth inning with three runs. A leadoff walk and three hits to pushed their lead to 4-0.
St. Edward's got a run back in the bottom of the sixth inning.
SHELBY JANDA led off with a walk. Dufour, again, launched a ball off of the wall in center field for a double. A groundout by
KAYLA APPLEBY plated Janda, but the rally would end there.
West Texas A&M would add a run in the top of the seventh on a bases-loaded walk to make it, 5-1.
Head coach Lindsay Gardner's squad would not go quietly as they tried to mount a furious comeback in the bottom of the seventh inning. Pinch-hitter
SAMI WILLIAMS drew a one-out walk, followed by a Hoffman single.
ALEX MAYFIELD advanced both runners with a sacrifice bunt. Roohms walked to load the bases and set the stage for Dufour. Not wanting to give Dufour a pitch to hit, Lady Buff reliever Tori Bayer walked the Hilltopper third baseman to force in a run. A flyout by
KAYLA APPLEBY ended the threat as the Hilltoppers fell in game two, 5-2.
"Game one was a fun game to play," head coach Lindsay Gardner said. "Our pitching staff did a wonderful job. It is nice to play defense behind Lauren (Slatten) because she mixes speeds well and you know where to be defensively. We made a couple of mistakes in the field and West Texas capitalized on them."
The Hilltoppers will return to action this weekend when they travel to take on Heartland Conference rival Panhandle State in a three-game series. The two teams will play a doubleheader beginning at 1:00 p.m. on Friday. A single game will follow on Saturday at noon. Live stats will be available on the Hilltopper Athletic Website.
