Carter No-Hitter Highlights a Pair of Wins for Softball

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Junior pitcher Liz Carter stepped into the circle on Saturday afternoon against Prairie View A&M already as one of the best pitchers in program history. After the first game of a doubleheader for the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi softball team, the Austin native added another milestone to her illustrious career – a no-hitter. Carter fanned 11 Panthers as the Islanders cruised to 5-0 victory.

Katie Blanar bounced back from a rough opening inning in game two to throw four quality innings in her first start of the year. The Islanders (10-8) used a trio of two-run innings to comeback from a three-run deficit to win 6-3.

RELATED: Box Score Game 1 | Box Score Game 2

"We had some specific goals for us as individuals and as a team today," head coach Stephanie Hughes said after the afternoon contest. "It was good to see the pitchers get some quality innings and the hitters make some adjustments that we've been working on in practice."

Game 1, Win, 5-0

Carter opened the game with six consecutive outs, three of which came by way of the strikeout. In the third, the righty gave up a leadoff walk to give the Panthers (0-10) their first runner on base. Carter followed the free pass with a pair of groundouts and her third strikeout of the afternoon.

Prairie View managed five runners on base throughout the game, but Carter's pitching, assisted by several stellar defensive plays by Megan Mitchell and Candice Hadd, allowed just one Panther to advance beyond second.

Carter aided her performance with an early RBI ground out in the first. The Islanders bats came to life and did major damage in the fourth inning, when six hits produced four insurance runs.

Jessica Mendez led off the inning with a lead off single, before Mackinzee Griebel tallied her second RBI of the year two batters later. Megan Mitchell followed suit with her first career RBI on the next at-bat.

Later in the inning, Candice Hadd sent a liner up the middle to plate Mitchell and Cosette Hernandez for a 5-0 lead. With more than enough run support, all eyes turned to the zero on the scoreboard for Panthers hits.

"I was walking over to some of the players and telling them to make some defensive plays and look at the scoreboard," joked Hughes. "I don't think she was paying that much attention to it until those last couple of innings. You could tell she got a little nervous, but she got the pitches she needed to close it out."

Carter continued to deal through the fifth and sixth innings, recording those six outs on 28 pitches to pull herself three outs from history.

"In the seventh inning, I was a little nervous," Carter said. "That's when it hit me, the reality of it, with it being my first career no-hitter."

If Carter had nerves, she only showed that they were made of steel in that final inning, capping the milestone game with her 11th strikeout.

The junior improved to 6-5 on the year and lowered her ERA to 3.23.

"Everything was working today," added Carter. "Every pitch was doing what I wanted it to do. The defense did great and coach Brittany Rumfelt called a great game."

Hadd led the way offensively for the Blue and Green with a pair of hits to go along with her two RBI.

GAME 2, Win, 6-3

Hughes originally listed Blanar in the flex spot in the first game, with plans to bring the southpaw in around the fifth inning. However, Carter's performance interrupted that script.

Blanar had her ninth career start begin with a wrinkle. Panthers catcher Regan McIlvenna drove in a pair of runs with stand-up triple, after Laurisa Hernandez plated the opening run of the game on the previous at-bat of the opening frame to jump out to a 3-0 lead.

The Islanders pulled two back in the bottom half. Mendez registered the first of her season-high two RBI on the day with a single, before Aspen Auger brought home a run on a fielder's choice.

The Islanders took the lead and gave Blanar some insurance in the second with a Dani Tefft RBI sacrifice fly and another Mendez RBI single.

Three hits in the first would be all the Panthers could muster against the junior. Of the three runners who reached base after the opening inning, Blanar made sure each of them stayed at first. Mariah Clay provided some assistance with a back-pick to catch a Panther straying too far off the bag in the fourth.

Blanar made way for Colleen Bentke in the fifth, as the rookie came on to preserve her fellow southpaw's fourth career win. A trio of strikeouts offset a pair of walks by the College Station native, as Bentke picked up her first career save.

"Katie is not usually going to be a starter," Hughes added. "She is more of a spot reliever. It was really positive to see her come back from that first inning and shut them down in the next three."

Hadd pitched in an extra pair of insurance runs in the sixth with a bases-clearing double.

Blanar scattered the three first-inning hits and allowed a one earned run, while striking out her first batter of the year. The junior dropped her ERA down to 4.67 in her longest outing since April 24, 2015.

NOTABLE STATS

• With four RBI on the day, Candice Hadd took a firm grasp of the team lead in runs batted in with nine on the year.

• Dani Tefft extended her hitting streak to five games, which is the longest active streak this season for the Blue and Green and one shy of the season long.

• This season, the Islanders have generally driven in runs in the late innings of a game. On Saturday, A&M-Corpus Christi improved to 3-1 on the year when scoring in the first frame.

ON DECK

The Islanders and Panthers cap their three-game series tomorrow at noon, when the Blue and Green look to improve to 21-2 all-time against Prairie View.