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Life > Athletics > Softball > Archives > 2004
News > March 30
NO. 16 PIONEERS
SPLIT DOUBLEHEADER WITH
NO. 2 ST. MARY’S
Boudreaux’s Loaded Bases RBI Gives TWU 3-2 Win in
Game Two
DENTON,
Tex. – The
Texas Woman’s University softball team, ranked 16th in the
USA Today/NFCA Division II Poll, split a doubleheader with
No. 2 St. Mary’s in a pair of extra inning games. St.
Mary’s earned a 6-3 victory in the first game, but
dropped a 3-2 decision to the Pioneers in game two.
TWU senior outfielder Nikki Boudreaux
(Orange, TX) drove in the Pioneers’ winning
run in the bottom of the ninth inning with bases loaded.
Boudreaux scored junior Megan
Helms (Krum, TX),
who singled with a hard hit that just missed the shortstop.
Helms advanced when junior Lauren
Gustartis (Bellaire,
TX) made her first hit of the night count with
a double deep into right field. The Lady Rattlers loaded
the bases by intentionally walking senior Teresa
Flores (Corpus Christi, TX), who went 5-9 for
the night. With two outs, Boudreaux scored Helms with a
shot to center.
The
Pioneers got a 1-0 jump on the board in that second game
off a one-run single from Flores in the
third inning. St. Mary’s answered with one run in both
the top of the fourth and fifth. TWU tied it up in the bottom
of the sixth when sophomore first baseman Amanda
Arnold (The Colony, TX) doubled down the left field
line to score Boudreaux. TWU got out of the seventh still
knotted at 2-all thanks to two big defensive plays from left
fielder Courtney Martin (Lake Dallas, TX),
who caught two tough fly balls and turned the second into
a double play.
Senior Dawn England (Graham, TX) picked
up the win after relieving sophomore Amanda Chambless (Collinsville,
TX) in the eighth.
“This
second ball game was exciting for both teams,” said
TWU head coach Dianne Baker. “Both
teams did an excellent job battling and both teams missed
some opportunities. I was pleased with the way Nikki picked
herself up and the way Amanda and Dawn pitched.”
In
the first game, TWU senior Jennifer Collins (Forney,
TX) started the day hot by hitting a one-run triple
in the bottom of the first. Collins added a double in her
next at bat, before being intentionally walked in her next
two appearances.
Down
3-2 entering the seventh inning, started Dawn England retired
three of her nine strikeouts. The bottom of the seventh ended
in dramatic fashion as the Pioneers tied the game at 3-all
when Flores hit a triple then scored the tying run on interference
from the third baseman.
Both
teams remained scoreless until St. Mary’s designated
hitter Brittny Ernst connected on her first ball of the night
for a three-run homer over the right field fence for the
6-3 final.
“This
was a big win for us,” Baker added. “St. Mary’s
is always at the top of the Division II poll. They are very
consistent and I told my team that we would truly have to
beat them. We couldn’t expect St. Mary’s to beat
themselves and they didn’t. We feel good with the split.”
The
Pioneers (29-6) resume Lone Star Conference play this weekend
as they travel to Angelo State for a four-game series with
the No. 13 Belles. The two teams are currently tied for first
place in the LSC South Division at 6-2.
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