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Life > Athletics > Softball > 4/22/06
RUSS-KELLER ONE-HITTER LEADS TWU INTO THE POSTSEASON
ABILENE , Texas – A stellar one-hit performance from Lindsy Russ-Keller earned Texas Woman’s University a split with No. 15 Abilene Christian and puts the Pioneers into the postseason as the second seed from the Lone Star Conference South division.
The Pioneers (25-34-1, 13-8-1) ended the regular season with a 2-1 win after dropping the opener 7-0 to the Wildcats (38-15, 18-4).
TWU begins postseason play at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, April 27 against the North division No. 3 seed Central Oklahoma in the double-elimination tournament at Southwest Park in Irving, Texas.
“We finished strong. Lindsy was outstanding to hold ACU to one hit. That hit went off the bat an inch away from the batter’s hands and was a slow roller,” assistant coach Jason Gwyn said. “She held them and we kept scrapping offensively until we scored and took the lead.”
Russ-Keller handcuffed the Wildcat offense in the second game. She went the distance with five walks and a strikeout. It was the third one-hitter of her career.
ACU put a run on the board in the first frame without a hit. The Wildcats started the contest with a walk and scored on a Jade Wilson sacrifice fly.
The Pioneer offense provided run support in the fifth. With one out, Chelsea Reilly singled and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Tiffanie Boone followed with a single. Amanda Emory scored Reilly with a base hit. After ACU switched pitchers, Amanda Arnold walked to load the bases. Amanda Danesi plated Boone to give TWU a 2-1 advantage.
The Wildcats were still hitless until Amber Jankowski reached on an infield single to start the sixth frame.
The opener was all ACU. The Wildcats pounded out 11 hits to generate seven runs. TWU managed just four hits and left five runners on base.
Ashley Martin took the complete game loss. Emory, Arnold, Amber Brooks and Rachel Townsend each had a hit for the Pioneers.
“In the first game we came out better than yesterday. We put runners on in the first inning but didn’t score,” Gwyn added. “Ashley pitched a better game than the score reflects. But on the flip side it was a true measure of the rest of the game.”
Head coach Marty Blowers was ill and did not travel to Abilene for the league series.
“Looking towards next week, we need to work on taking advantage of opportunities,” Gwyn said. “In all four games this weekend we had runners in scoring position in the first inning and didn’t score. We need to be a little better at that.”
The TWU softball team caps off a banner year for Pioneer Athletics. For the first time in 10 years, TWU had all of its programs qualify for the postseason. A decade ago, the Pioneer basketball, volleyball, gymnastics and tennis teams accomplished the feat during the 1995-96 academic year.
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