By Chandler Harris, Assistant Sports Editor
The softball team won three of its five games over the weekend at the St. Mary’s Spring Invitational in San Antonio. This was the first competition for the Wildcats in 2009, giving them a 3-2 record to begin the season.
“I think we had a successful weekend,” said head coach Chantiel Wilson. “We beat three good teams, and the two that we lost to showed us where our weaknesses are, and we just need to work on those.”
The team won its first game of the season 4-3 against Rollins College (Fla.) on Thursday. The Wildcats gave up three runs in the bottom of the first inning, but sophomore pitcher Jacque Gregoire settled down and pitched six scoreless innings to give the Wildcats a chance. The Wildcat bats answered in the fifth when senior Brooke Whittlesey hit an RBI double and then scored on a wild pitch. Junior Caitlin Nabors tied the game at three on a sacrifice fly by senior Katie Cornelison. In the top of the sixth, senior Shelby McElvain gave ACU the lead for good with a solo home run.
On Friday, the team split two games, losing its first matchup of the day to Texas A&M-International 6-2. The Wildcats outhit the Dustdevils 9-6 but committed two errors and left seven on base in the losing effort.
“It’s not that we overlook anybody, but we had a big come-from-behind win the day before and we weren’t ready to play,” Wilson said. “We came out flat and made errors and left too many runners on. We just weren’t executing when we needed to.”
In the second game on Friday, the Wildcats defeated Washburn 5-2 behind another strong pitching performance from Gregoire. She allowed four runs on two hits and struck out six in her second win in as many days.
On Saturday, the team split its two games once again, losing to Cameron but defeating Midwestern State.
The Wildcats led Cameron 2-0 after McElvain began the game with a solo home run and Cornelison drove Nabors home with an RBI single in the first. They extended their lead to 3-0 on an RBI single by Nabors after McElvain hit a two-out double. The Lady Aggies answered in the third with the Cats up 3-1. Jenna Boren hit a three-run home run for Cameron, and the Lady Aggies held on to win 4-3.
“In the Cameron game, we came out and scored three runs, but we knew that wouldn’t be enough,” Wilson said. “Cameron is a great hitting team, and we stopped attacking the ball. Britney Benedict did a great job holding them to just four runs.”
The Wildcats won their final game of the tournament 4-1 over Midwestern State as Gregoire picked up her third victory of the season. The Cats once again jumped out to an early lead as Cornelison drove in catcher Jessica Shiery with a first inning RBI double. With a 2-0 lead in the fifth, Shiery hit a two-run homer to right center to give Gregoire the cushion she needed for the win.
“We go there [St. Mary’s] every year to start the season because there are good teams there that we have to have our best game in order to win,” Wilson said. “It helps us to prepare mentally and physically for each game, and it kind of checks us at the beginning of the season.”
The team will play in the CBS Insurance Classic beginning Thursday at Wells Field, and the Wildcats will play St. Mary’s at 5 p.m. in the first of four games. The team will play Emporia State at 4 p.m. and Northeastern State at 6 p.m. on Friday. On Saturday, the Wildcats will face Southeastern Oklahoma at 4 p.m.
“This will be a tough weekend, but it is what we need in order to get ready for conference,” Wilson said.
