Carter Shines as Islanders Sweep Sunday Doubleheader

 CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – For the second time in three days, Liz Carter displayed a dominating performance for the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi softball team, limiting Iowa bats to just one run from five hits, while striking out a pair of Hawkeyes. The junior pitcher's most significant contributions during Sunday's doubleheader at Chapman Field in the Islanders Invitational came from her production at the plate.

Carter drove in the go-ahead run against the Big Ten foe in the sixth inning with a single to right field, before plating the game-tying runs in the afternoon game against Sam Houston State, as a part of a 2-for-3 day with three RBI at the dish for the Austin native.

RELATED: Game 1 Box Score | Game 2 Box Score | Photos

The Islanders swept both games with a 2-1 victory over Iowa in the morning contest and a 6-2 win against the Bearkats in the afternoon to improve to 3-1 on the season, the best start in the Stephanie Hughes era.

"I'm really pleased with our performance this weekend," head coach Stephanie Hughes said after the game. "We thought our pitching was going to be our strong point and that showed. Offensively, we didn't do what we wanted to do, but we came out with three wins. We know we have some things to work on, but going into next week, it looks really good right now. I couldn't be happier."

GAME 1: vs. IOWA, 2-1

Carter's performance on Sunday morning mirrored her first start of the season on Friday. Going the distance in the first two games of the season for the first time in her career, Carter allowed the Hawkeyes to reach scoring position just three times.

The only earned run she allowed on the weekend came in the fifth inning, as Kaitlyn Mullarkey tied the game at 1-1 with an RBI sacrifice bunt.

"Coming into the season, we knew that we could go as far as she could take us," Hughes added. "She came out in that opening game and stepped up. She's going to get better. It's just really fun to watch her right now."

A&M-Corpus Christi took the lead in the third inning, scoring the opening run of the game for the first time this year. Freshman Megan Mitchell crossed the plate on an RBI groundout to second by senior Cosette Hernandez.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, Carter came to the dish with Dani Tefft on third and Colleen Bentke, who was pinch running for Aspen Auger, on first. Carters' drive to right gave the freshman enough time to come home from first to take the lead.

GAME 2: vs. SAM HOUSTON STATE, 6-2

In the afternoon game, Islanders starting pitcher Stephanie Flores was the beneficiary of some unfortunate luck for the second start in a row. The Bearkats capitalized on two errors by the Blue and Green to open an early lead in the first inning.

Flores and the defense settled in after that by not allowing a single Sam Houston State player to reach scoring position until the fifth inning. The Mercedes native finished her afternoon after 4.1 innings, giving up six hits without an earned run, while striking out one.

Colleen Bentke made her second career appearance in the fifth inning, stepping into the circle with the bases loaded and one out. Handling the situation like a seasoned veteran, the College Station native sent the next two Bearkats back to the dugout in just three pitches and retiring the final six Sam Houston State batters.

With the team trailing, 2-0, in the fifth inning, Hughes called upon her starting pitcher from the first game to pinch-hit with a pair of runners in scoring position. Carter sent a 3-2 pitch screaming down the right field line to even the score at 2-2

"I was trying not to press and stay relaxed," Carter said after the game. "I wanted to work the pitcher. I had a full-count and wanted to hit it to the right side. I wanted to score one run, but, luckily, we scored two. It was a last minute call, but I just tried to put in to play at that point."

The Islanders took the lead on the very next at-bat. Dani Tefft singled to center field to bring home Brianne Trost, who had come into pinch run for Carter, for the go-ahead score.

Candice Hadd added an insurance run with her third RBI of the weekend, before the hosts put the game to bed in the sixth with a pair of RBI from Hernandez and Trost.

VETERANS PRODUCE

• Liz Carter finished the weekend with a 2-0 record. The righty is off to the best start in her career at the plate and in the circle with 14 innings pitched, one earned run from eight hits with eight strikeouts.

• Dani Tefft hit team-high .538 on the weekend, driving in a run and scoring twice. The senior added two stolen bases to take her career number to 34, just eight steals away from third all-time.

• Cosette Hernandez scored three times, while registering two RBI and slugging .365.

ROOKIES SHOW THEIR STUFF

The Islanders Invitational was the debut for Mitchell, Hadd, Bentke and Adriana Farris. Combined the freshman class played a role in five of the 11 runs for the Islanders this weekend.

Bentke earned the first win for a freshman on opening weekend since Liz Carter's victory against Stephen F. Austin on Feb. 9, 2014.

"Colleen has so much movement," Hughes said about the freshman southpaw. "She throws so much hard than it looks like. With this wind and a lefty, we try to take advantage of that home field advantage. She did a great job yesterday shutting down Louisville in her first inning and then coming in and shutting the door today."

ON DECK

The Islanders play Texas A&M-International on Tuesday at Chapman Field in a doubleheader slated for 1 p.m.

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