The No. 24 ACU softball team was swept Wednesday in a midseason non-conference doubleheader by St. Mary’s, falling 4-1 and 1-0.
The St. Mary’s pitching staff held the normally productive Wildcat offense to one run and ten hits combined in the two games.
ACU (18-8, 4-4) has now lost four of their last five games, but will look to change that streak this weekend as the team hosts Texas A&M-Kingsville in a three-game series starting Friday.
In the opener, St. Mary’s scored runs in the second, fourth, fifth and sixth innings to separate themselves from the Wildcats. ACU only produced six hits and left eight runner stranded on base against St. Mary’s starter Emily Brittain.
Brittain threw a complete game and struck out three and surrendered zero walks, moving her record to 8-3 on the season.
ACU starter Peyton Mosley (6-5) threw 5.1 innings and allowed eight hits, three strikeouts and three earned runs.
An RBI double in the top of the sixth by Brittany Fowlkes scoring Mosley proved to be ACU’s only run in the 4-1 loss.
In the nightcap, the Wildcats suffered their offensive shutout as St Mary’s pitcher Maricela Bissaro (7-1) silenced the Wildcat lineup. Bissaro went the distance, allowing only four hits, as she was in the zone the whole game. The sophomore only had one strikeout, utilizing the supporting cast around her to make plays defensively.
The game was a scoreless tie through the top of the seventh before the Rattlers scored the winning run in the bottom half of the inning.
St. Mary’s loaded the bases with one out and Shelby Hall on the mound for ACU, and Jared Gonzalez hit a single to centerfield to drive in the game-winning run in walk-off fashion.
Hall (4-2) took the loss despite her valiant effort, throwing 6.1 innings and scattering seven hits.
But, the Wildcats have a great opportunity to rebound the two losses suffered in San Antonio as the team begins a three-game series Friday with Texas A&M-Kingsville.
“We have to have a short memory, especially this time in the season,” head coach Bobby Reeves said. “While it’s hard not to think about what could’ve happened in games past, we have to look ahead to what’s next.”
The team’s mini slump began against Tarleton State and continued into the St. Mary’s doubleheader Wednesday.
“We just need to go out this weekend and play our game,” junior Sara Vaughn said. “We have an opportunity to take a series and help our conference standing, and hopefully we will do that. We must play our game though.”
Kingsville (12-17, 1-8) is in last place in the conference standings after going 1-2 last weekend against No. 19 West Texas A&M. The Javelinas, though, took the opener of the series 5-2 against the Lady Buffs.
Senior Lindsay Brown leads the Javelina pitching staff with a 2.83 earned run average over 116 innings pitched, and she also is tops in RBI’s with 15. Sophomore Kaylee Villanueva leads the team with a .352 batting average.
The doubleheader begins Friday at 5 p.m., and Saturday’s lone game is set for 1 p.m.
