ABILENE -- ACU junior
Brittany Rexroat pitched a comple-game three-hitter Tuesday afternoon to lead the Wildcats to a 6-0 win over Incarnate Word, helping her team salvage a doubleheader split with the Cardinals in non-conference softball action at Wells Field.
The Cardinals won the first game, 4-3, in eight innings, rallying from a 3-0 deficit to take the game. The split leaves ACU at 9-14 on the season, while Incarnate Word is 17-12.
ACU will begin Lone Star Conference South Division play this weekend when it hosts Texas Woman's in a three-game series at Wells Field. The two teams will hook up in a Friday doubleheader starting at 5 p.m., followed by a single game Saturday at noon.
Rexroat struck out seven Cardinals, allowed just three walks and didn't allow a baserunner past second base en route to the win that improved her record to 4-3 on the season. At one point in the game she retired 14 of 15 batters she faced as she kept the Cardinals under wraps.
ACU would score all the runs it would need in the first inning as four Wildcats came across to score in the frame. Missy Mendoza and
Candice Miller each had RBI singles in the inning, and
Jenny Kulp capped it with a two-run double.
The Wildcats tacked on two more insurance runs in the fourth on
Andi Anti's solo home run to lead off the inning and an RBI sacrifice fly by Kulp.
ACU let one get away in the opening game of the doubleheader, losing a 3-0 lead late in the contest to fall 4-3 in extra innings, the Wildcats' sixth one-run loss of the season.
The Wildcats scored all their runs in the first inning as
Shawna Barrow led off with a triple and came in to score on a single by
Stephanie Tingle. After Missy Mendoza reached on an error, Anti singled in two runs to make it 3-0.
ACU freshman pitcher
Shelby Hall made those three runs stand up until the sixth when Incarnate Word struck for a pair of two-out runs to tie the game at 3-3. But Hall settled down and retired the Cardinals in order in the top of the seventh to give her team a chance to win it in the bottom of the seventh.
It certainly appeared that was going to happen when the Wildcats loaded the bases with one out. But a pair of fielder's choice groundouts cut down two potential game-winning runs at the plate and the game went to extra innings
Incarnate Word was able to take advantage of the extra frame when Lea Padilla's two-out line drive to left fell in for a hit to drive in Michelle Luna with the go-ahead run. ACU got a runner to third in the bottom of the eighth, but couldn't get her across the plate en route to the loss.
