AUSTIN, Texas – Saturday was Senior Day on the hilltop, and St. Edward's Softball made sure the seniors went out with a victory in their last home game. The Hilltoppers shutout UT-Permian Basin, 4-0, at Diane Daniels Field to complete the sweep.
St. Edward's (23-20, 13-8 HC) started with a bang in the first inning.
ALEX MAYFIELD led off with an infield single, followed by another infield single from Kaci Olsen. Both would move up a base on a wild pitch.
MORGAN DUFOUR, who homered in yesterday's doubleheader, stayed hot at the plate and launched a line drive over the left field fence for a 3-0 Hilltopper lead. It was her 11
th homer of the season. The sophomore tallied 15 long balls in her freshman campaign. Her 26 career home runs are third on the all-time list. Stacy Giles (2008-11) owns the all-time mark at 29.
The Hilltoppers poured it on in the third inning when
KAYLA APPLEBY led off with a single to right field. After advancing to second on a wild pitch, Appleby scored on a double by
SAMI WILLIAMS. Pinch runner Jenni Strickland also came around to score on a single by
SAMANTHA GILMORE and an error by the Falcons. Gilmore capped off the scoring in the inning when she was brought around on a single from
BREAH WHITTEN.
In the fifth inning, St. Edward's was determined to beat the incoming rain.
MELINA SANCHEZ and Whitten got aboard with one-out singles.
MEGAN HOFFMAN sent a hard grounder to shortstop that was misplayed. The ball rolled all the way to the wall and two runners scored for the run-rule victory. After the Hilltoppers made it rain, the clouds opened up just 15 minutes later.
UT-Permian (11-38, 5-19 HC) could not solve
LAUREN SLATTEN (16-9) as the Hilltopper ace notched her second-straight shutout against the Falcons. The righthander allowed just three hits while striking out four batters. For the series, Slatten picked up all three wins, allowing just eight hits and producing 17 strikeouts in 14.0 innings of work.
Senior Day was a success for the two Hilltopper seniors. Olson finished 2-for-3 with a run scored while Gilmore was 1-for-2 with a run scored while reaching base twice.
St. Edward's will be back in action Wednesday when they travel to take on Angelo State in a doubleheader. First pitch is set for 5 p.m. at Mayer Field in San Angelo, Texas. Live video and stats will be available on the Hilltopper Athletic Website.
