Abilene Christian sophomore pitcher Peyton Mosley completed a dominating weekend against No. 19 West Texas A&M Lady Buffs as she blanked WT 2-0 Saturday afternoon to complete ACU’s three-game sweep in Lone Star Conference play.
The win improved the Wildcats’ record to (23-9, 9-5) and dropped West Texas A&M’s to (23-14, 7-8).
The Wildcats produced the only run they would need Saturday in the bottom of the sixth inning off textbook offensive progression from the ACU lineup. Junior outfielder Keanna Winkfield led off the inning with a double to left-centerfield, and then was moved to third base thanks to a sacrifice bunt by sophomore outfielder Madison Buckley. Winkfield then scored to break the score when sophomore Sara Vaughn hit a double into left field, making the score 1-0.
“We played really sound softball this weekend against a very good team,” head coach Bobby Reeves said. “We were clicking on all cylinders. There are three forms of the game: offense, defense and pitching. In order to win, you’ve got to have two of the three going. We were lucky enough to have all three going this weekend.”
Mosley breezed through the ever-dangerous West Texas A&M lineup unscathed, throwing a complete-game, three-hitter. She also had seven strikeouts in the outing and improved her record to (9-5).
“Peyton’s not going to overpower anybody,” Reeves said. “But she keeps hitters off balance as well as any softball pitcher I’ve seen. When her changeup is working and she’s hitting her spots, she is tough to beat.”
In the bottom of the sixth, sophomore Lyndi Smith added an insurance run with an RBI single.
In game one of the doubleheader Friday, Mosley again cooled off the Lady Buffs’ bats, surrendering only four hits en route to a 6-1 victory.
West Texas A&M entered the series with a combined .321 batting average and 239 runs scored, but once again, Mosley tamed their lineup.
“I was able to keep them off balance with my change up, but I definitely think it was my screw ball that gave them the most trouble. My defense did a great job the whole game.”
ACU scored single runs in the second and third innings before a two-run fifth that ultimately sealed the deal.
Vaughn led off the fifth with a walk, and she later scored on a RBI single by Megan Brigance that made it a 3-0 game.
The Wildcats then caught a break when the Lady Buffs’ third baseman Renee Erwin threw a routine ground ball wide of the first base bag, allowing Brigance to scamper home from second.
WT’s Kim LeComte hit a solo homerun in the sixth, but Mosley was lights out after that, retiring the last six batters she faced to end the game.
Flanary and Brignace finished the game 2-3 with two RBI’s, and Mosley’s stat line was again impressive: complete game, four hits, one run allowed and seven strikeouts.
In the second game of the doubleheader, junior pitcher Caitlyn Crain followed in Mosley’s footsteps, handling the WT offense with ease in a 4-2 win.
Crain sat down 11 of the first 13 batters she faced before getting into a snag in the fifth. The Lady Buffs loaded the bases, but Crain escaped the jam by forcing a pop-up.
Meghan Brown roped a double in the sixth that just missed the diving Winkfield in centerfield that put her on second and set up a two-run homerun by Renee Erwin, making the score 3-2.
ACU answered by scoring a run in the bottom of the inning, and Crain seamlessly threw a one-two-three seventh inning to close the game out.
Winkfield and Smith each had two hits in the game. Smith hit her fourth homerun of the season in the fifth to deep centerfield.
ACU will head to Lawton, Okla. for a three-game series against Cameron beginning Thursday.
