Softball put on a dominant display against the Texas A&M – Corpus Christi Islanders over the weekend, as ACU outscored the Islanders 24-2 in a three-game series sweep.
The Wildcats began the weekend with an 11-0 thumping in game one that was built off a first-inning home run from junior Brianna Barnhill. The scoring continued in the second when junior Alyson Bishoff doubled to left field and scored senior Kaleigh Singleton.
Senior Taylor Brown singled in two runs in Bishoff and senior Alli Spivey, and later scored when junior Holly Neese singled to short. Brown finished the weekend 6-for-11 with four RBI and her second inside-the-park home run of the season and was named Southland Conference Player of the Week for the first time.
After taking a 5-0 lead in the second inning, freshman Mackenzie Thornton scored off an error early in the third inning followed by a slew of hits driving in the final runs grabbing the 11-0 score. Sidney Holman pitched well and claimed her 13th win of the year and now posts a 13-3 record on the campaign. She recorded seven strikeouts and pitched five innings.
Hannah Null pitched the second game and collected her seventh win of the year, pushing her record to 7-11. Null pitched seven innings, recorded six strikeouts, and surrendered just two runs. Errors and a wild pitch helped ACU jump out to a 3-0 lead in game two, and pushed it to 5-0 before Islanders’ Mackinzee Griebel scored on an error to move the score score to 5-1 and break the 10 inning scoreless streak. The Wildcats would strike twice more and surrender one run in the top of the fifth to claim the 7-2 win.
Game three was similar to game one as ACU claimed its second shutout of the series. Spivey grounded out to short, bringing home redshirt sophomore Donnelle Johnson in the third inning. Later in the inning, junior Peyton Hedrick doubled down the infield line which scored another run. Brown bolted home on a throwing error by shortstop Lacey Boyd to give the Wildcats a 3-0 lead after three. Hedrick capped the scoring with a three-run bomb in the fifth to put the ‘Cats up 6-0 for the final tally.
At 21-14 and 11-1 in conference, ACU will take a break from conference to travel to Lubbock Wednesday to battle Texas Tech at 6 p.m. The Red Raiders earned a 2-1 win earlier this season when they visited Abilene. The Wildcats return home to Poly Wells Field April 7 to continue showdown with Nicholls State.
