Ruston,
La. - The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi softball team got a win and
a heartbreaking loss on Tuesday to move to 3-1 after the first four
games of its seven game road trip. The Islanders beat
Louisiana Tech by a 5-1 score in the first game and lost the second
game by a 9-8 score after leading 8-1.
The Islanders
move to 11-19 on the season now while the Lady Techsters fall to
13-12 on the season. Addie
Tallman started game one for the Islanders and got the complete
game win to improve to 8-6 on the season. Stacie
Tassin started the second game, throwing four plus innings for
the Islanders before Morgan
Seals came on in relief. Seals gave up the tying
and winnings runs to fall to 0-1 on the year.
In game one,
the Islanders and Lady Techsters played to a 0-0 stalemate through
the first three innings. In the fourth inning, the
Islanders were able to break through and put a pair of runs on the
board. Margo
Hurdt led off the inning with a single to left center and
advanced to third when Kim
Connelly put down a sacrifice bunt and reached first on an
error by the third baseman. Connelly then stole
second to put both runners in scoring position. Cassie
Redman moved the runners with a single up the middle to score
Hurdt from third and advance Connelly while Redman moved to second
base. Lauren
Sanders followed up with another single to plate Connelly and
put the Islanders up 2-0.
Tech responded
with a run of its own in the bottom half of the fourth inning to
make it 2-1 TAMUCC. The Islanders came right back
over the top with two more runs to take a 4-1 lead.
Larissa
Martin started the inning with a double down the left field
line. Stephanie
Estrada reached on an error by the second baseman to advance
Martin to third. After Estrada stole second base, Alaina
Byars doubled to left center field to score both Martin and
Estrada to extend the lead to 4-1.
TAMUCC added an
insurance run in the top of the sixth inning when Redman started
the action with a triple to right field with one out.
Sanders followed with a single to plate Redman to move the score to
5-1. Tallman shut down the Techsters over the final
two innings to preserve the lead.
Tallman allowed
only three hits on the day while giving up just one unearned run in
the fourth inning. She pitched all seven innings,
giving up two walks and striking out none. Sanders
and Redman led the Islanders with two hits apiece in game one while
Sanders and Byars each recorded two RBI. Martin,
Estrada, Byars and Hurdt each had one hit and Redman recorded one
RBI for TAMUCC.
"We swung the
bats really well today," said Islander head coach Jake
Schumann. "The past four games we have done really well
offensively."
Game two played
out in a tough fashion for the Islanders. After
taking an 8-1 lead, the Islanders struggled late in the game,
giving up eight runs in the final two innings to fall by a 9-8
score.
TAMUCC got on
the board right away, scoring two runs in the first inning to take
early control of the game. Sanders started off the
game with a single to first base and came around to score when
Estrada doubled down the left field line while Estrada advanced to
third on an error by the left fielder. Byars followed
up with a single to plate Estrada, making it 2-0 early on.
The Islanders
kept pouring it on in the second inning, pushing across another
three runs to take a 5-0 lead after two. Redman
started off the inning with a single but was caught stealing at
second base. Undeterred, Sandy
Schumann singled to third base and advanced to second when Alejia
Cain followed with a single to center field.
After an out and a Martin walk to load the bases, Estrada came
through with a huge double to plate all three runners with two outs
in the inning.
LaTech pushed
across their first run in the bottom of the third inning as
Danielle Sheridan reached on a fielder's choice and came all the
way from first to score on an Amberly Waits double to center field
to make it 5-1 TAMUCC.
The Islanders
scored three more runs in the top of the fifth inning, started off
by a Byars single. Melissa
Casey came on to pinch run for Byars and advanced to second on
a stolen base. Connelly singled up the middle and
advanced to second while Casey advanced to third and scored on an
error by the Tech center fielder. Redman followed
with another single to plate Connelly while Redman advanced to
second. Redman advanced to third on a Schumann
groundout and scored on a Cain single up the middle to finish the
top half of the inning with an 8-1 lead.
In the bottom
of the fifth inning, the Lady Techsters exploded for seven runs to
tie the game at 8-8. The inning started with a walk
and a pair of singles to load the bases for Sheridan, who walked to
force in the first run on the inning. Waits followed
with a grand slam down the right field line to clear the bases and
force Tassin from the game. Morgan
Seals came on to pitch for the Islanders, giving up three more
hits and two more runs to knot the game at 8-8.
"We lost focus
for one inning and gave LaTech about seven outs," said
Schumann. "We made some mistakes but we just have to
put it behind us."
The Islanders
were unable to push across any runs in the top half of the sixth
inning, setting up the deciding run for LaTech in the bottom half
of the inning. Sheridan singled up the middle and
advanced all the way to third on a wild pitch. The
next play saw another Islander wild pitch to score Sheridan for the
final run of the game, tilting the scales in favor of the Lady
Techsters at 9-8.
Tassin pitched
four innings, giving up six runs, three of them earned, on six
hits. She walked three batters and struck out
four. Seals pitched the final two innings, giving up
three runs, all of them earned, on four hits. She
walked none while striking out one Lady Techsters
batter. Estrada led the Islanders with four RBI in
the second game while Byars, Redman and Cain each added
one. Redman led the Islanders in hits with three with
Estrada, Byars and Cain added a pair each. Sanders,
Andrea
Simancas, Connelly and Schumann each had one hit.
The Islanders
continue on the road with two more games on Wednesday in Monroe,
La. where they will take on the Louisiana-Monroe
Warhawks. The doubleheader is set to begin at 4
PM.
"We can't turn
one bad game into several bad games," said Schumann. "They have to
have a bad memory heading into tomorrow; they can't dwell on what
happened in the fifth inning tonight."
