By Joel Weckerly, Sports Editor
The softball team found a variety of ways to win in last weekend’s Lone Star Confer-ence First-Pitch Tournament in Irving.
Whether it was a pitching duel or an offensive comeback, ACU found a way to get the job done en route to winning three out of its four games in the crossover tournament.
“I’m so proud of them,” Coach Carol Tabor said. “We’re trying to improve each game, and we definitely showed improvement this weekend. When you’re able to encounter a variety of situations and come out on top, it’s huge.”
The Wildcats started off the weekend by edging East Central Okla-homa 2-1, as junior shortstop Robin Woodall drove in both runs and junior pitcher Christina Yorkey was credited with the victory.
ACU followed that up with a 5-2 win over Northeastern Oklahoma. Freshman Shauna Bragg picked up the win, but not before freshman right-hander Heather Cochran made her first appearance in relief following a broken pinky finger
The Cats lost their only game of the weekend 3-2 to Southeastern Oklahoma on Saturday, as Yorkey took the loss for ACU despite two of Southeastern’s runs being unearned.
“We gave them that game,” Tabor said.
ACU came back from a 4-0 deficit in their final game on Saturday to knock off Cameron, 5-4. Sophomore second baseman Katie Bryan tied the game at four in the bottom of the sixth inning with a base-clearing triple, and Woodall knocked her in to provide the game-winning RBI for ACU. Cochran got the win for the Wildcats on the mound.
“When you have a comeback like that, it helps you see that you can win, no matter what the situation,” Tabor said.
“It seems like we keep getting better and better,” freshman utility player Danielle Faulk said. “Our confidence is growing, and our focus is where it should be. We were up encouraging each other the whole weekend, and we never got down on ourselves.”
Tabor said something she noticed from the tournament was the team’s ability to turn their bats on, no matter the situation.
“Our offense is so good; it can ignite at any time,” Tabor said. “It doesn’t matter whether we’re up or down. There’s not a hole in our lineup at all.”
Another aspect Tabor likes is the team’s eagerness to be in clutch situations.
“A lot of our ladies like the pressure and several ladies are learning to love it more,” she said. “We tend to like the tight victories rather than the blowouts.”
Tabor said the team focused Tuesday’s practice on errors and mishaps that plagued them in the Southeastern loss in order to prepare for this weekend’s Wildcat Diamond Dame Classic. ACU is scheduled to play four games in the home-opening tournament, beginning 1 p.m. Friday at Wells Field.
