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Life > Athletics > Softball > Archives > 2003
News > May 2
PIONEERS 2-1 AFTER FIRST DAY
OF THE LONE STAR CONFERENCE SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT
IRVING,
TX—Texas Woman's University (36-22-1)
played three straight softball games for a total of six hours
and thirty minutes in the first day of the Lone Star Conference
Softball Tournament. They opened the tournament with a 7-3
victory over Cameron (22-19-2), then were knocked
back into the consolation bracket with a 9-3 loss to the tournament's
top seed, Angelo State (45-8). In a must win situation,
the Pioneers eliminated Central Oklahoma
(17-29-1), 4-2, and kept their hopes alive for a conference
championship. They will face Southeastern Oklahoma at
10:00 a.m. Saturday morning in another elimination game.
The Lady
Savages lost their first round game to Tarleton State, then
eliminated Cameron to advance in the tournament.
TWU
took an early lead in their game against Cameron when Jennifer
Collins (Forney, TX/Grayson C.C.) laid down a sacrifice
bunt, scoring Sascha Taylor (Mansfield, TX/Stephen F.
Austin) from third base. Two batters later, Amanda
Arnold (The Colony, TX/The Colony H.S.) gave the Pioneers
a 2-0 lead in the top of the first when she connected with
a RBI-single to center field. Both teams went scoreless during
the second and third innings, then TWU exploded for three
runs in the top of the fourth. Nikki Boudreaux (Orange,
TX/Navarro College) stepped up to the plate with two
runners on base and hit a hard shot to left field, which
the Cameron left fielder misplayed, allowing Taylor and Courtney
Martin (Lake Dallas, TX/Lake Dallas H.S.) to score.
Boudreaux then came around to score when Collins batted her
in with a RBI-double to left field. Starting pitcher Dawn
England (Graham, TX/Graham H.S.) pitched three perfect
innings to start the game, but the Lady Aggies scored three
runs on two hits to close the gap to 5-3 after four full
innings. Both teams went scoreless in the fifth and sixth
innings, then Jami Ingram (Richmond, BC/Blinn College) put
the game out of reach when she connected with her 13th homerun
of the season, a two-run shot that went over the left center
field fence. England retired the final three Cameron batters
in the bottom of the seventh to pick up the 7-3 victory.
She moved her record to 16-5 on the season after allowing
three runs on four hits while striking out a season-high
10 batters.
In
their second round game, TWU took a 2-1 lead in the top of
the third inning when Taylor connected with a RBI-single
and Boudreaux hit a RBI-double in back-to-back at bats.
Angelo State quickly answered back in the bottom half of the
inning with three runs to take back the lead, 2-4. In the bottom
of the fourth, the Rambelles blew the game open with five more
runs, thanks in large part to Andrea Payan's three-run homer.
The Pioneers scored another run in the top of the sixth when
Boudreaux crossed the plate on a fielder's choice from Jennifer
Collins, but it was too little, too late as ASU ran off with
a 3-9 victory. England (16-6) picked up the loss after
going two innings, allowing four runs on four hits.
It
was a pitcher's dual in the Pioneers' third game of the day
as TWU's England and Central Oklahoma's Jordan Akin
allowed a combined three hits and no runs through the first
four innings of play. TWU drew first blood in the top of the
fifth when Megan Helms (Krum, TX/Krum H.S.) singled
up the middle of the infield, scoring Jennifer Collins from
third base. The Lady Bronchos answered back in the bottom half
of the inning, scoring two runs off a fly out and a ground
out. In the top of the sixth inning, Teresa Flores (Corpus
Christi, TX/Miller H.S.) connected with a two-RBI single
to give TWU a 3-2 lead. In the next at-bat, Collins
drove in Flores with a RBI-single through the middle of the
infield. The Pioneers went scoreless in the seventh and starting
pitcher England retired the final six UCO batters to record
her second complete game victory of the day. She moved her
record to 17-6 after allowing two runs on six hits while striking
out three batters.
Up
next, the Pioneers face Southeastern Oklahoma State in an
elimination game at 10:00 a.m., Saturday, May 3 in the second
day of the LSC Softball Tournament. If TWU
wins, they will await the loser of the semifinal game between
Tarleton State and Angelo State at noon at Southwest
Park in Irving, Tex.
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