NATCHITOCHES, La. – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi softball team opened their final regular season series with a 9-4 win over Northwestern State before falling 9-1 in game two of the doubleheader to set up the rubber match tomorrow.
It sets up what could be the decider for the Islanders (11-36, 6-21 SLC) clinching the final spot in the Southland Conference Tournament. After East Texas A&M lost both games tonight, the two teams are tied for that eighth seed heading into the final day of the regular season.
With East Texas A&M holding the tiebreaker over the Islanders, the latter will have to win to have a chance for the postseason berth mixed with another loss by the Lions.
Game one had the Islanders showing up with the offensive hand, starting off with a bang as
Paolina Baez led off the day with the homer straight to dead center to set the tone early. Northwestern State would knot it up with a run themselves in the second but Baez would find herself scoring once again in the third to go up 2-1.
Baez drew the walk to get on base before
CJ Castilla sent her ball up the middle to advance her to scoring position.
Mimi Thornton then singled hers through the right side as Baez got a good jump from second to score on the play.
The Lady Demons had a big third inning, however, as a three-run outing put them back in front at 4-2. The Islanders would shave off the deficit a little in the fifth with
Madysen Edwards scoring off
Ripley Welker's base hit into right field, but they would explode in the sixth for a commanding hold of the game.
Zoey Stewart started the barrage with a lead-off walk to open the sixth.
Madison Espinoza was placed on base after getting hit by the pitch for two on, and Castilla went to place down the sacrifice bunt next but reached on the Northwestern State throwing error inevitably scoring Stewart.
The runs started pouring in for the Islanders, as Espinoza and Castilla would eventually score themselves with another error from the Lady Demons and a pair of singles from
Monee Montilla and Welker.
Mimi Thornton, who got on first on the fielder's choice, also scored after
Karisa Lopez put her ball in play.
Their four runs scored in the fifth is the most scored in an inning by the Islanders in over a month, last doing so in the second inning against HCU back in March which they won 7-0.
Their 7-4 lead wasn't enough for them, as the Islanders tacked on two more in the seventh for extra insurance. Baez knocked the RBI single to score Stewart before scoring for the third time herself in the game after Thornton sent her home on the single down the third base line.
Siarah Galvan was credited with the win in the circle after throwing three scoreless innings in relief. Kenda Winfrey helped with the late inning shutdown as she tossed the final 1.1 innings for the save.
Game two saw a flip-flop of the offensive production as Northwestern State turned their bats on for a nine-run game, splitting the series with the 9-1 decision.
On deck:
The Islanders will have to win the rubber match tomorrow over the Lady Demons in order to have a shot at making the conference tournament. That game is set for 12 p.m. back at Lady Demon Diamond.
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