The Wildcats took three out of five at the Mizuno Classic tournament in Stillwater, OK this weekend, including an extra inning 5-4 thriller over Tennessee Tech.
Freshman Tori Poullard sliced a ball down the right field line for a walk-off double in the ninth to steal the win with two outs in the tournament opener.
Oklahoma State proved to be a tough out for ACU as it downed Wildcats 5-3 in the first meeting of the weekend and 9-2 in the second. In the first meeting, junior Brianna Barnhill tripled early and scored senior Taylor Brown and junior Holly Neese to give ACU a 2-0 lead.
But, the Cowgirls scored three straight times to go up 3-2 before ACU tied it with a single to right field. However, two-run homer by OSU’s Jessi Haffner would ultimately subdue the Wildcats.
ACU faired better offensively against Northern Iowa, as the team recorded three home runs. Junior Peyton Hedrick recorded two of the long balls, but the biggest was Neese’s bomb off UNI relief pitcher Jaci Spencer in the seventh inning. Despite, surrendering a five-run third inning, which tied the game at 5-5, Neese’s late-game heroics would be enough for the victory.
The second match up with OSU saw the Wildcats get off to a slow start with the Cowgirls scoring six runs in the first two innings. ACU scored runs in back-to-back innings in the fourth and fifth innings to cut the lead to 6-2, but gave up three more in the fifth, eventually falling 9-2.
In the tournament finale against Tennessee Tech, ACU doubled up the Golden Eagles 10-5, in a game more loosely contested than the first. Hedrick connected on her fourth home run of the weekend, and Barnhill and Huff added a home runs as well.
The Wildcats record now stands at 10-11 ahead of a meeting with Texas Tech at Poly Wells field on Tuesday night. The two teams split the home-and-home series last season, and Tech earned a 3-0 victory in an the opening tournament of the season for each team. The Red Raiders enter the game at 11-9, as this will be the second of three meetings for the programs this season.
ACU will remain at home after Tuesday night’s game to take on Southeastern Louisiana in a three-game series which will mark each team’s first conference game.
