The softball team managed to record another win this weekend in Austin at the Texas Invitational.
The Wildcats lost the first game against nationally ranked Texas, 15-1. Freshman Allison Turner started the first game and gave up eight runs and three walks before ACU brought in senior Julia Montoya, who gave up the final five runs, one walk and one strikeout. Senior Casey-May Huff closed the game, pitching 3.0 innings with one strikeout.
The Wildcats didn’t score until the fifth inning, when junior Taylor Brown scored on an RBI single by sophomore Holly Neese.
The team also lost the second game against Texas, 3-2, but redshirt sophomore Hannah Null pitched 6.2-innings in the second game and gave up three runs, one walk and one strikeout. ACU gained the lead in the second on an RBI single that allowed sophomore Brianna Barnhill to score, and they tied the score 2-2 in the sixth on a triple by Brown. Texas came back in the seventh and won the game on a highly-disputed fielding error.
ACU also lost to the University of Illinois, 7-2, in Friday evening’s game. Turner started the game and pitched 4.0-innings and gave up five runs, one of which was a home run. The Wildcats managed to get on the scoreboard with a two-run homer by sophomore Baylee Travers in the fourth, and Null pitched the final 2.2-innings with one run and two strikeouts to finish the game.
The Wildcats snagged a win against the University of Tulsa with a final score of 2-1. Null went the distance in a 7.0-inning, one run, three strikeout, and two walk performance. Tulsa scored in the fifth inning, but ACU came back in the sixth to score two runs on RBI hits by Neese and sophomore Peyton Hedrick, handing Tulsa their first loss of the Invitational.
Head coach Bobby Reeves said the team managed to hold onto the close win because Null and the defense shut Tulsa down in the bottom of the seventh.
ACU lost the final game of the tournament to Weber State, 6-1. Barnhill homered in the second, giving the Wildcats a short-lived lead before Weber scored six unanswered runs from the third to the seventh inning. Turner pitched 5.0-innings with eight hits, five runs, and one walk before Huff finished the last two innings with one run and one walk.
The Wildcats overall record is now 3-11 and they will play their first home games of the season next weekend, March 5 and 6, against the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff.
“Home field advantage is a huge advantage,” Reeves said. “It will be good to play at home after being on the road for three weeks. Hope everyone comes out to support us.”
