CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – It took a little longer than maybe it should have, but after 15 innings of the some of the best softball they've played all year, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi softball team finally were able to do something only one other Southland Conference team has been able to do all season – and something the Islanders haven't done since 2011.
Beat defending champion McNeese.
After a heartbreaking 1-0 loss in eight innings in the opener Friday, TAMU-CC got a clutch pinch-hit single in the fourth inning of the nightcap by
Mimi Thornton, driving in the eventual winning run in a 2-1 victory. It was just the second conference loss of the season for the Cowgirls, and it snapped a 33-game losing streak for the Islanders against McNeese.
The Cowgirls had won 17 consecutive SLC games, losing only to Nicholls 1-0 in their second SLC game of the season. And not since May 14, 2011 had the Cowgirls been forced to watch the Islanders celebrate at their expense. But the streak now stands at one in favor of TAMU-CC.
The Islanders (21-17 overall, 9-11 SLC) nearly got to celebrate a doubleheader sweep after a career day by sophomore pitcher
Ariella Saenz.
In a game delayed an hour and a half by weather, Saenz wasn't bothered in the least. She pitched her second complete of the season and third of her career, needing just 98 pitches to toss eight innings. She allowed just one run on only five hits with two strikeouts and no walks. At one point, she retired 14 in a row.
The only run of the game came with two outs in the eighth, on a double followed by a run-scoring single on an 0-2 pitch. TAMU-CC had a chance to end it in the seventh, loading the bases with one out on three straight singles. But a sharp grounder to short turned into a double play, setting the stage for the eighth inning McNeese rally.
The Islanders collected 10 hits in the opener, with
Alina Jasso and
Kimane Rogron each going 2-for-4, and
Paolina Baez,
Monee Montilla,
Felixia Hinojosa,
Karisa Lopez,
Nicolette Ramirez and Thornton all adding singles.
Most people were expecting a pitching duel between aces
Primrose Aholelei of TAMU-CC and McNeese's Shaelyn Sanders. But the two took a seat to Saenz and Ryann Schexnayder, who staged a spectacular pitching duel of their own.
While Saenz was pitching the best game of her career, Schexnayder wasn't too bad either. She went six innings, allowing seven hits with no walks and one strikeout. She finally gave way to Sanders, who entered in the seventh and escaped the big bases-loaded jam before retiring the side in the eighth to get her SLC-best 17th win of the season.
The matchup everyone anticipated finally materialized in the second game. It just took a little while.
Aholelei got the start and was her usual brilliant self from the beginning. McNeese (34-17, 18-2) actually went with Lindsay Davis, but she lasted just two-thirds of an inning after giving up a hit and three walks, including one with the bases loaded to Baez that drove in TAMU-CC's first run of the day. McNeese then went to the pen for Sanders again, and the duel was on.
Aholelei (15-8) allowed just one run on six hits, two walks and six strikeouts, while Sanders (17-9) took the loss after allowing just one unearned on only two hits, two walks and a strikeout in 5.1 innings.
Nursing a 1-0 lead, Aholelei allowed her only run in the fourth when McNeese leading hitter Alexis Dibbley led off with a first-pitch double to right field. She was sacrificed to third, them came home on an infield single to third base to tie the game.
But as they have been apt to do all year, the Islanders fought back.
In the bottom of the fourth inning,
Sidney Campion singled with two outs, then raced to third when Lopez reached on an error. TAMU-CC assistant coach
James Rodriguez called on Thornton to pinch hit, and she calmly smacked an RBI single up the middle on an 0-2 pitch to drive in Campion and give the Islanders a 2-1 lead. It was Thornton's third pinch hit in her last four at-bats and her fifth pinch hit of the season.
Aholelei did the rest, retiring the next six batters in order, then shutting down a two-out, bases-loaded jam in the seventh inning to put the finishing touches on her 18th complete game of the season and 44th of her career. She also lowered her ERA 2.11 – good for sixth in the SLC – and she increased her strikeout total to an SLC-best 172.
The Islanders had just three hits, but they took advantage of five walks and got the one big hit the lacked in the first game. The Islanders also played some stout defense, as catchers
Precious Aholelei and Hinojosa combined to throw out four runners trying to steal in the two games. The Cowgirls entered the day with 106 steals on 124 tries.
The teams will play the rubber match at noon Saturday at Chapman Field.
TAMUCC (21-17, 9-11 SLC)
Friday, April 26 – vs. McNeese (34-17, 18-2), noon, Chapman Field, Corpus Christi
Friday, April 26 – vs. McNeese (34-17, 18-2), 2 p.m., Chapman Field, Corpus Christi
Saturday, April 27 – vs. McNeese (34-17, 18-2), noon, Chapman Field, Corpus Christi
On Deck: Following the series with McNeese, the Islanders will play their final two home games of the season against Prairie View A&M on Tuesday, April 30. The teams will play a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m.
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islanderssball).
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