GEORGETOWN, Texas - The Pirate softball team started the day off
strong winning 9-5 over TLU in game one, but struggled to secure
the ball in game two, falling 5-3 to the Bulldogs.
In game one the Pirates used two big innings to secure the win.
After scoring first by posting three runs in the bottom of the
second inning Texas Lutheran answered with three runs of their own
in the third, bringing the game even again 3-3. SU would not be
bested an threw five runs up in their half of the inning to push
their lead to five, 8-3.
The Bulldogs posted one run in the top of the fourth and tacked
on one more run in the sixth to pull within three, 8-5.
Southwestern scored one more in the bottom of the sixth and then
closed out the game in four batters at the top of the ninth to win
game one 9-5.
Taylor Turpin was big in game one, going 2-3 with two runs while
Amanda Ambrose tallied three RBI's in the contest. Lyndsy
Maus was strong in relief going 4.2 innings on the mound and
allowing two runs on seven hits while striking out two and walking
none to earn the save. Starting pitcher Kaitlyn Pavlicek secured
the win going 1.2 innings to open the game.
Southwestern continued their momentum as game two got underway.
Katelyn Gola reached on a fielder's choice and then stole
second and then hustled around to score on an arrant throw down
that trailed into left field to give SU a 1-0 lead after the first
inning.
After a scoreless second the Bulldogs put one run of their own
on the board in the third but the Pirates answered with a run when
Pavlicek drove in Haley Hughes with a two-out triple that snuck
inside first base and rolled to the right field corner. Pavlicek
scored on a wild pitch putting SU on top 3-1 at the end of the
third.
Texas Lutheran threatened in the fourth, loading the bases
against starting pitcher Kara Solomon with a walk and two singles.
Maus stepped back to the mound and got McMillian to pop out to
Ambrose at short and Childs to pop out to Pulver at second to
escape the jam.
At the top of the fifth the Bulldogs loaded the bases again with
a single and a couple of Pirate errors with no outs, forcing
another SU pitching change bringing Pavlicek back to the mound.
After striking out the first batter she faced Pavlicek got out of
the inning with TLU scoring two and tying the game up 3-3.
The Bulldogs took the lead in the sixth thanks to Pirate errors
and well placed ground balls, going up 5-3 with and inning and a
half to go.
The Pirates, however, couldn't push one across the plate
despite getting runners in scoring position and ended the day with
a 5-3 game two loss.
Hughes went 2-4 in game two to lead the Pirates at the plate
while TLU was led by Stewart who was 4-4 with one run and one RBI.
The split moves SU to 6-5 on the season and they
will test their skills further with six games in Arizona
over the coming weekend beginning with a double header against
Augsburg on Saturday.
