HAMMOND – Abilene Christian rode a four-run fifth inning to a 7-3 victory over Southeastern Louisiana in the Southland Conference softball opener for both teams Saturday night at North Oak Park.
Southeastern (12-10, 0-1 Southland) lost its sixth straight game. Senior second baseman
Katie Lacour stole two bases to run her season total to 21, topping the previous single-season record of 20 set by Debbie Spriggins in 1986.
Sophomore outfielder
Kinsey Nichols added two RBI, as she, Lacour and junior third baseman
Mychal Truxillo recorded two hits apiece. Senior
Taylor Bishop (7-6) took the loss in the circle for SLU, allowing 10 hits and six earned runs in a complete-game effort.
ACU (7-11, 1-0 Southland) extended its win streak to four games. Sophomore infielder Holly Neese paced the Wildcats at the plate with two home runs and four RBI. Sophomore pitcher Hannah Null (4-5) went the first four innings to earn the win, while freshman Allison Turner tossed three scoreless innings in relief to earn her first collegiate save.
Southeastern jumped on top in the bottom of the first inning. Lacour drew a leadoff walk and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by sophomore designated player
Grace DeLee. Nichols followed with a sharp single to right centerfield to score Lacour, who slid around the tag of ACU senior catcher Cara Hoover. Later in the inning, Truxillo beat out an infield single to short and Nichols was able to score when sophomore shortstop Peyton Hedrick's throw to first sailed wide, giving the Lady Lions a 2-0 cushion.
Abilene Christian cut in the lead in the top of the second. Neese led off the frame by lining a 2-2 pitch over the left field fence to pull the Wildcats within, 2-1.
The Lady Lions got the run back in the bottom of the third inning. Lacour led off the frame with a bloop single just inside the left field line, stole second and third and scored on an RBI single by Nichols to extend the lead back to two runs.
Abilene Christian tied it up in the top of the fourth inning. A dropped fly ball by sophomore outfielder
Peyton Sutton allowed the first run to score and another run came home on an infield single by junior first baseman Casey-May Huff to knot the score at 3-3.
Truxillo was stranded after a leadoff double in the bottom of the fourth inning and ACU made Southeastern pay in the top of the fifth. Junior outfielder Alli Spivey and senior second baseman Demi McNulty reached on consecutive infield singles to put a pair of runners on.
Two outs later, Hedrick laced a two-run double into the left centerfield gap to give the Wildcats the lead for good. Neese then followed with a long home run well over the left field fence to extend a commanding ACU lead to 7-3.
Southeastern stranded two more runners in the fifth inning before mounting one last threat in the bottom of the seventh. Freshman shortstop
Jaquelyn Ramon reached on a Neese error to leadoff the frame, then Lacour and DeLee singled to load the bases with no outs.
Nichols then flew out to center and junior Taylor Brown gunned a tagging Ramon at the plate. Turner then forced senior first baseman
Amber Sather to ground out to close out the win.
The series closes out on Sunday with an 11 a.m. doubleheader. Live stats and live video (LionVision subscription required) will be accessible at LionSports.net.
