LAFAYETTE, La. – For the second straight day, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi softball team needed a pair of solo home runs to pick up a win at the Ragin' Cajun Invitational. After freshmen
Lacey Boyd and
Kandace Johnson teed off on North Dakota State yesterday, it was the veterans' turn to lead the Islanders (5-11) to a 7-6 win over Alcorn State, as
Liz Carter and
Candice Hadd went yard in back-to-back at bats in the seventh.
The win bounced the Blue and Green back after falling to Louisiana (15-4) 8-0 earlier in the day.
GAME 1 vs. No. 18/19 Louisiana
The Ragin' Cajuns opened the game with four runs over the first three innings. After quiet fourth and fifth innings, the hosts put the game to bed with four runs in the sixth.
Louisiana starting pitcher Alex Stewart (6-2) scattered a pair of hits with five strikeouts in her five innings of work, before Summer Ellyson closed things out in the sixth.
Liz Carter (4-6) dropped the decision giving up eight runs, six earned, on eighth hits. The Austin native struck out one with four walks.
Kara Gremillion and Haley Hayden went 2-for-2 and 2-for-3, respectively, as six different players recorded an RBI for the Ragin' Cajuns
Carter and
Mackinzee Griebel picked up the two hits for the Islanders.
GAME 2 vs. Alcorn State
In the second game of the day, Corpus Christi had to come from behind on three occasions.
After Alcorn took the lead with three runs in the first, the Islanders battled back to tie the game in the second.
Megan Mitchell singled up the middle to put the Blue and Green on the board.
Mariah Clay notched her second double in as many days, tying up the game with two RBI.
The Braves jumped out in front in the third with a pair of RBI singles. Corpus Christi benefitted from an error by Alcorn in the fourth, before Griebel leveled evened it up with her first RBI of the year.
Down by one heading into the seventh, the Islanders took their first lead of the game off the back-to-back homers from Carter and Hadd. Carter took a 1-1 pitch over the wall in right center. Hadd followed suit with a shot to right.
Kandace Johnson (1-5) earned the first win of her career, keeping the Blue and Green within striking distance in seven innings of work. The Atascocita native gave up 14 hits, six free passes and four runs, three earned.
Corpus Christ picked up the win six earned runs on nine hits off pitcher Robin Harrison.
Mackinzee Griebel was 3-for-4 for her second multi-hit game of the year.
SENDOFF SUNDAY
The Islanders close their program record 18-game road swing on Sunday with their final two games in the Ragin' Cajun Invitational. Action starts at 9 a.m. against North Dakota State, before rounding out the five-game weekend against Louisiana.
