Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Liz Carter is known for her powerful pitching, but on Friday afternoon, it was the Austin native's bat, not her arm, that provided the dominant performance.
Carter went 4-for-5 and was responsible for both runs for the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi softball team across a pair of games at Chapman Field between the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi softball team and Sam Houston State. The Islanders dropped the opening contest, 7-1, before a thrilling walk-off victory in game two.
Liz Carter entered the second game as a pinch hitter in the bottom of the seventh with score tied at 0-0. After advancing the would-be go-ahead run to third, the Austin native had to wait until the bottom of the ninth to seal the deal with an RBI base hit to notch the Islanders' (13-22, 3-11) 10th win of the season at home.
RELATED: Game 1 Box Score | Game 2 Box Score
GAME 1, LOSS, 7-1
In the series opener, the Bearkats (13-22, 3-11) jumped out to a 4-0 lead after three innings, which included a two-run home run from third baseman Breanna Homer in the latter frame.
Carter, starting for the Blue and Green in the circle, kept the bats relatively silent through the middle innings before a pair of errors undid the Islanders in the final frame. Bearkats second baseman Dani Allen put down a sacrifice bunt with two aboard, but an errant throw to first careened off the fence and rolled into right field, which allowed Sam Houston State to empty the bases.
Offensively, A&M-Corpus Christi outhit Sam Houston State by an 8-6 margin. Cosette Hernandez, Adriana Farris and Liz Carter produced multi-hit performances; each went 2-for-3 on the afternoon.
The Islanders pulled a run back in the first inning on an RBI single from Carter to score Candice Hadd. After that, Sam Houston State limited the Islanders from moving anyone beyond second.
Carter (4.51 ERA) fell to 7-10 on the year after throwing seven innings, scattering seven hits and allowing four earned runs. The righty finished with a 1:1 walk to strikeout ratio with four in each category.
Taylor Atkinson (6-8, 3.29 ERA) earned the win, despite allowing eight hits. The Bearkats hurler posted one walk, one strikeout and one earned run against.
GAME 2, WIN, 1-0
The Islanders and the Bearkats could not separate themselves through regulation, as the two teams combined for 13 hits through nine innings.
Stephanie Flores (1-6, 2.72 ERA) was looking for her first win of the year in her ninth start. The Mercedes native came out firing from the start.
Sam Houston State put a runner on base in five of the first six innings, but every time, Flores shot back by holding the threats at second and ended a trio of innings on strikeouts. The senior went the distance in the longest outing of her career to record the shutout, with six hits and three walks, while fanning five.
"I think it all started with Stephanie Flores in the second game," said head coach Stephanie Hughes. "For her to stay in it, remained focused and get big outs when we needed them, it was huge for us."
The biggest threat of the afternoon came in the top of the eighth as the Bearkats reached base with the cleanup hitter Katie Doerre coming to the plate. Flores forced a groundout to Megan Mitchell to preserve the scoreless game.
"I'm a person that the harder the challenge is, the better I'm going to perform," Flores said. "I've always been the kind of person who knows I can do, especially with this team behind me. It was so much easier, because I mentally prepared for it."
Carter entered the game in the seventh inning following a Jessica Mendez single with two outs. A single down the leftfield line by Carter nearly had the distance to plate Mendez, but a solid play from Sam Houston State outfielder Jenni Kieval halted the Islanders shortstop at third. Prior to that point, the Blue and Green had posted just a pair of hits.
Adriana Farris started the Islanders off in the ninth with a base hit down the right side. Savannah Sandoval came in to pinch run for the first baseman, before Mendez advanced her to second with a single up the middle, which set the plate for Carter.
The Austin native delivered the decisive punch after remembering her previous at-bat against Sam Houston State starting pitcher Lindsey McLeod.
"I was definitely looking for an inside pitch, that's was she gave me in my previous at-bat," added Carter. "I stayed on my plan and fouled off some pitches before I got the one that I wanted and drove that in, which drove in the winning run."
McLeod (6-8, 4.01 ERA) provided an equally impressive performance in 8.2 innings of work. The Islanders scored their lone run on seven hits, while the righty walked one and struck out four.
QUICK HITS
• Farris notched her career high in hits with two in the first game of the series.
• With four strikeouts in the opening game, Carter reached 112 on the season, which is a new career high for punchouts in a season.
• The second game of the day marked the first time the Blue and Green has gone to extra innings this season.
• Flores' ERA dove down from 3.38 coming into the weekend to a team-low 2.72, following nine shutout innings.
ON DECK
The Islanders close out their three-game set with the Bearkats tomorrow at noon. Saturday's game will be the Strike Out Cancer Game for the Blue and Green with Relay For Life. A portion of the proceeds will go to the American Cancer Society.
STAY SOCIAL
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- Go Islanders -
