Wildcats Win With Late Rally

4/27/2017 4:12:00 PM

By: LC Sports Information - Brad Welborn

Box Score

It took five full innings before the hits started falling for the Louisiana College Lady Wildcats in their opening game of the 2017 American Southwest Conference tournament against the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. LC tallied five runs on five hits in the final two innings to notch the opening game win, 5-3, and stay out of the the dreaded loser's bracket. The Wildcats will face tournament host, and No. 2 ranked University of Texas at Tyler in the evening game at 7 p.m.

Through the first five innings of the game, the Wildcats and the Cru both struggled to figure each other's starting pitcher. LC had a prime opportunity to score the game's first run in the top of the second, with runners on second and third with just 1-out. A ground ball to third and a strikeout ended the inning for the Wildcats, keeping the game scoreless through two innings.

The game remained a 0-0 draw until Mary Hardin-Baylor broke through with a 2-out rally. A ball the banged off the wall in right allowed the game's first run to score, which was followed by a sharp single up the middle to put the Cru up 2-0 at the end of five innings. After falling behind, the Wildcats responded quickly in the top of the sixth inning with the top of the lineup. Shelby Bergeron and Sami Walters reached on a single and walk bringing the Wildcats top batter Mattie Stine to the plate. The junior drove a ball to deep center to drive in her 34th run of the season and pull the Wildcats within a run. With 2-out later in the inning and runners at first and third, the Wildcats showed their aggressiveness on the base paths once again with a delayed steal of home by Kourtney Leblanc to tie the game.

After escaping a bases loaded jam in the bottom of the inning, the Wildcats went right back to work in the top of the inning. LC loaded the bases on an infield single by Bergeron, bringing Sami Walters to the plate. She hit a chopper to the shortstop and in an effort to get the go ahead run at the plate, threw the ball to the backstop allowing the run to score and everyone else to be safe at their bases. Stine then delivered a bloop single into shallow left for another run and Taylor Hammock's fly ball to left was deep enough to allow Bergeron to score the third run of the inning, putting LC up 5-2 going into the bottom of the final inning.

The Cru made things interesting with a lead off double, that eventually scored on the second of two consecutive ground ball outs. LC traded the out at first for the run for the second out of the inning. Savannah Settle then struck out the Cru's top hitter to end the game and put the Wildcats in the winner's bracket game against UT Tyler.

Settle finished her 17th complete game of the season, going 7.0 innings, allowing three runs while scattering eight hits and striking out three. Six of LC's eight hits came from the first three batters in the order, with Shelby Bergeron going 3-for-4 and Mattie Stine driving in two runs on two hits in the game.

The Wildcats take on tournament host and No. 2 ranked UT Tyler in the winner's bracket game beginning at 7 p.m. at SuddenLink Field. In the series against Patriots in Pineville this year, the Wildcats lost two of the three games by one run, including an extra inning loss in the series finale. Live stats and video will be available via the link provided on the LC Athletics homepage, and live in-game updates will be available by following @LC_sftball on Twitter.

Print Friendly Version