After a sweep of Incarnate Word this past weekend, softball earned its fifth-straight victory with a 6-2 win vs the University of North Texas Wednesday. It was the Wildcat’s second win over an established Div. 1 program in the last three weeks after beating Texas Tech 5-1 two weeks prior.
Behind solid defense and a barrage of hits from juniors Peyton Hedrick and Holly Neese ACU came away with its 27th win of the year.
“UNT had a good team. They are currently 2nd in Conference USA,” Head Coach Bobby Reeves said.
Neese slapped a ball over the left field wall and scoreboard after back-to-back singles from senior Taylor Brown and Hedrick, to put the ‘Cats up 3-0 in the first. Hedrick kept the Mean Green at bay with a triple in the second that scored senior Kaleigh Singleton, and that was all the support junior Hannah Null needed.
Null picked up her 10th win of the year and her fourth in a row after pitching five innings with seven strikeouts and no walks. Freshman Sidney Holman served in clean up duty and pitched two scoreless innings.
“I had a great feeling about the game after Holly hit a three-run homer in the first inning,” Singleton said. “It calmed us as a team and took the pressure off offense and defense. I think we are going to have to bring the same mentality against Sam Houston and push through all three games to get that much closer to our goal of winning conference.”
The Wildcats are 27-16 and 15-3 in conference, one game out of first place in Southland play. McNeese State leads at 30-15 and 16-2, but will not play ACU this season.
Sam Houston State is ranked No. 6 in the conference with a 9-9 record and 18-21 overall. Sophomore pitcher Lindsey Mcleod leads the Bearkats pitching staff with a 10-12 record and 124 strikeouts.
“Sam Houston State has a good team, They have a pitcher that is right at the top in categories in the conference and Coach Brock always has his team ready to play,” Reeves said. “At this point in the season you just try to keep your team consistent. We are playing well right now and hopefully they will continue to be relaxed and focused on what we need to do.”
This weekend’s match up begins with a double header Friday and a 3 p.m. start on Saturday. Each of the games will also air on ESPN3.
