Islanders Drop Two to ACU, Still Alive for SLC Tournament

ABILENE, Texas – The postseason fate of the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi softball program will come down to the final day after the Islanders dropped a doubleheader 7-5 and 5-3 to Abilene Christian on Friday at Poly Wells Field.
 
In order to make the Southland Conference Tournament, the Islanders (18-29, 8-15 SLC) must beat ACU (13-32, 9-17 SLC) and have Incarnate Word lose to Sam Houston on Saturday.
 
With three hits over the two games, freshman Haley Morse extended her on-base safely streak to 19 games, which is the longest by an Islander this season.
 
In game one, the Islanders led 1-0 in the first inning after junior Tiler Noyola led it off with a double and came around to score on a sacrifice fly by Morse.
 
The Islanders were still up 2-1 in the second on an RBI hit by sophomore MacKenzie Purcell.
 
Though, ACU took advantage of mistakes and scored six unearned runs off four errors. The Wildcats built a 7-3 lead late.
 
A&M-Corpus Christi scored twice in the seventh inning. It came on RBI's by Morse and freshman Gabriella Torres.
 
Sophomore Beatriz Lara allowed just one earned run in 4.0 innings. Freshman Audrey McNeill threw a pair of scoreless innings in relief and allowed just one hit.
 
In game two, the Islanders trailed 2-0 when they punched back with three runs in the third to go up 3-2. It came on RBI hits by Noyola and sophomore Ashleigh Sgambelluri, and a sacrifice fly by Lara.
 
However, ACU responded with a run in the third and two in the fourth to go back ahead 5-3.
 
The Islanders threatened in the seventh inning. After a single by sophomore Quinn De Avila and Purcell was hit by a pitch, they had two runners on with no outs. A sacrifice bunt advanced the runners to second and third with one out, but the game ended on a pair of fly outs.
 
McNeill last 3.2 innings to start and freshman Madison Johnson tossed 2.1 perfect innings out of the bullpen.
 
De Avila turned in her second multi-hit game of the year and it was the 10th for Noyola.
 
The regular season finale will take place Saturday at 2 p.m. when the two teams close out the series.
 
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For more information on Islanders Softball, keep up with the team via their Facebook page (Islanders Softball) and follow the program on Twitter (@IslandersSball) and Instagram (islanderssball). 
 
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