LAREDO, Texas –
LAUREN SLATTEN tossed her second no-hitter in the last two weeks as she helped St. Edward's to a series-clinching, 6-0 victory over Texas A&M-International Saturday afternoon at Dustdevil Softball Field.
After no-hitting #9 St. Mary's last week and garnering her fourth Heartland Conference Pitcher of the Week award, Slatten is making a case for that weekly award once again. Slatten struck out eight batters as the Hilltoppers rebounded from a game-two loss in the series to take a two-game lead over Texas A&M-International (19-25, 7-8 HC) for the final spot in the Heartland Conference Tournament.
St. Edward's (19-18, 9-6 HC) got on the board in the fourth inning as they pounded out three hits. The big blow was a three-run homer off the bat of
MORGAN DUFOUR. It was her team-leading eighth of the season.
The Hilltoppers added two insurance runs in the fifth inning when they tallied three hits.
KAYLA APPLEBY had her second big hit of the weekend with a two-RBI double for the 6-0 lead.
Slatten took it from there, as she only got stronger as the game advanced. The junior right-hander struck out the final two batters of the game to notch the no-hitter.
"I loved our fire today. We were firing on all cylinders, and we definitely carried over our attack at the plate from yesterday," head coach Lindsay Gardner said. "The biggest difference was timely hitting with runners in scoring position. Lauren threw another gem, and had a great defense behind her. It was a great end to a long week. I am very proud of our efforts today and hope we can continue this momentum."
Slatten was absolutely dominating in Laredo. In 14.0 innings of work in two starts, Slatten allowed just two hits, while striking out 15 batters. She lowers her conference-leading ERA to 2.15. Opponents are hitting only .204 against her.
St. Edward's will be back in action on Thursday when they travel to take on Cameron in non-conference action. The two teams will play a doubleheader starting at 1:00 p.m. in Lawton, Okla. Live video and stats will be available on the Hilltopper Athletic Website.
