PINEVILLE –
Bella Houck's walkoff, three-run homerun helped Louisiana Christian University's softball team salvage a doubleheader split with Xavier (La.) Tuesday evening at Wildcat Park.
After the visiting Gold Nuggets won the opener 6-2, Houck's blast in the bottom of the seventh inning of game two lifted the 'Cats to a 6-3 victory. LCU (11-11) improved to 5-1 in Red River Athletic Conference play with Tuesday's triumph.
GAME TWO: 'Cats 6, Xavier 3
Houck's homerun – her second of the season – gave the Wildcats an exciting ending to a game two filled with drama. In the top half of the inning, Xavier's Mecolett Bradley had tied the game at 3-3 with a three-run homerun of her own.
Bradley's home run in the top half of the inning was final push of momentum that had swung in Xavier's favor as the inning had started. LCU freshman pitcher
Arlee Darbonne was on the brink of history as she retired the first 18 batters she faced and not allowing a Xavier baserunner until the final inning.
Madison Winston ended Darbonne's bid for perfection when she led off the seventh inning with an infield single that left second baseman
Olivia Coaker with no play. Chenai Keyes then took the pressure off the official scorer when she knocked a clean single through the right side and bringing the tying run to the plate.
Darbonne retired the next two batters on a strikeout (one of five she had in the game) and a long flyball out to
Lexie Marks in centerfield before Bradley tied the game. Xavier's next batter popped out to third baseman
Keeley Wright to end the Nuggets' half of the inning.
Despite the apparent momentum shift, the Wildcats wasted no time putting runners on base.
Emma Hunt led off with a single, and then moved to second when
Desiree Squires' groundball could not be fielded cleanly. The stage was then set for Houck, who hammered a 2-0 pitch over the left-centerfield wall to the delight of her teammates and LCU fans.
Houck went 3-for-4 in the game while Hunt and Squires both went 2-for-4. Squires knocked an RBI double in the third inning that scored Hunt and stretched LCU's lead to 2-0.
Coaker, meanwhile, went 1-for-1 with two RBIs and a walk. She put the 'Cats on the scoreboard with a sacrifice fly that scored Squires in the bottom of the first, and later sent Squires home on an RBI single in the third.
GAME ONE: Xavier 6, 'Cats 2
LCU's victory was in stark contrast to the afternoon contest that saw the Gold Nuggets score the first six runs en route to the win.
Claire Cullen's sacrifice fly in the bottom of the sixth that scored
Jordan Dauthier was LCU's lone RBI.
Coaker went 2-for-2 and scored a run in addition to pitching the final four innings of relief. Dauthier, Hunt, and
Alyssa Landry also collected base hits for the 'Cats.
Bailey McMillian took the loss for the 'Cats in game one despite giving up only earned run over three innings of work.
NEXT UP:
The 'Cats are scheduled to host Rapides Parish rival LSU–Alexandria in a doubleheader Friday, March 10, with first pitch scheduled for 4 p.m. Inclement weather is posing a threat to the playability of those games at that time; any postponements will be announced on LCWildcats.net and on the LCU Athletics social media channels.
– LCU –
