Sunday, March 21
Tulsa 5, North Dakota State 3
Kylie Norwood hit a 3-run home run in the bottom of the 5th inning to give the Hurricane a 5-3, which is all they needed to defeat the North Dakota State Bison Sunday morning in the Jayhawk Invitational finale at the Arrocha Ballpark.
Norwood's first home run of the season, second as a Hurricane, came after Tulsa went down 3-2 in the top of the 5th. Kyndal Pirtle started the inning off by reaching first on an error.
Makayla Jackson capped off her strong weekend singling up the middle to put two on for the junior Norwood.
Freshman Haley Morgan showed off her power, sending a shot over the center-field fence in the bottom of the third to give Tulsa a 2-1 advantage. The homer was the first of her career.
Aubree Seaney led the Hurricane from the plate going 2-3 on the day, scoring a run in the process.
Tulsa's record moved to 8-5 on the season, while North Dakota State dropped to 5-15.
Tulsa started the scoring off in the second inning, using Bison mistakes to take a 1-0 lead. The Hurricane loaded the bases with two walks and an error, scoring from a passed ball with two outs.
Chenise Delce drew the start for TU going 4 innings with 6 hits, 3 runs and 7 strikeouts. Sara Llamas-Howell (1-1) in relief picked up her first win of the season going 1 inning with no runs allowing just 1 hit.
Kassidy Scott picked up her second save of the weekend throwing 2 innings, giving up 1 hit and striking out 1 Bison batter. The save moves her into a tie for 2nd all-time in saves at Tulsa with 9.
Memphis 9, Louisiana Tech 1 (6)
Memphis softball wins series finale at home over Louisiana Tech 9-1.Tigers finish series with the Lady Techsters 1-2.
Zoey LeCompte made her second start and fourth appearance in the circle for the Tigers. She went six innings only allowing one run on five hits. She also had two strikeouts and one walk.
Junior Hannah Koenig made her second start of the year for the Lady Techsters. She went two innings, giving up two runs on one hit and had two strikeouts.
After a scoreless first inning, the Lady Techster got on the board first with a RBI sac fly to right by Amanda Gonzalez to make it 1-0. The Tigers answered in the bottom of the inning, as Sam Ibison hit a triple to left center scoring Brady Rowland and Alyssa Dean, making the score 2-1.
The Tigers added on to lead in the bottom of the third. Kendall Lee smashed a home run to left center, scoring Lanya Bates from second, making it a 4-1 ball game. Delaney Smith made a diving catch in center field to save a double in the top of the fourth.
The Tigers added two more runs in the fifth inning. They would put the game away in the bottom of the sixth scoring three runs. Lanya Bates had the walk off triple scoring Ibison and Morton for the final score 9-1.
No. RV James Madison 7, East Carolina 1
James Madison completed the series sweep of East Carolina Sunday afternoon with a 7-1 victory at Veterans Memorial Park.
The Dukes (9-0) kept their perfect record intact while the Pirates dipped to 9-13.
Logan Newton and Lynsey Meeks recorded two hits apiece while a trio of JMU batters drove in two runs. Olivia Narron, who tallied her second triple of the campaign, led ECU with two hits.
Kama Woodall (4-7) lasted just 0.2 innings in the setback, surrendering five runs (all earned) on five hits with a walk and a strikeout. Alexis Bermudez (2-0) notched her second win of the weekend, tossing five scoreless innings in relief and limiting the Pirates to just one hit. She also struck out two batters while walking none.
The East Carolina offense went to work right away in the top of the first. Narron laid down a bunt single and advanced to third on a single by Ashleigh Inae. Rachel McCollum then singled through the left side to plate Narron and put the Pirates on top. James Madison starter Alissa Humphries wriggled out of further trouble by inducing two foul outs sandwiched around a strikeout.
The Dukes responded with a vengeance in the home half of the first. Newton scored the first JMU run with a RBI double while a two-run single by Hallie Hall and a Michelle Sullivan RBI triple left the home side with a 5-1 cushion through one complete.
After Bermudez took over in the circle in the top of the third, ECU was unable to cut into the deficit any further. Meeks accounted for the remainder of the scoring herself, notching a sacrifice fly in the fourth and an RBI single in the sixth.
No. RV Baylor 2, Houston 1
A double in the top of the seventh from junior Kati Ray Brown tied the score at one, but the comeback effort fell just short for the University of Houston Softball team, dropping its series finale with RV/RV Baylor by a score of 2-1 on Sunday afternoon.
In her nearly six innings of work, sophomore Logan Hulon came out of the bullpen and surrendered no walks to keep the Cougars (9-13) within striking distance throughout the afternoon.
Houston's pitching staff put together another stellar performance against the Lady Bears (17-5) on Saturday to complete the weekend having allowed just three runs. In its last three games, Houston's pitching staff has posted a miniscule ERA of 1.69, while holding opposing batters to a .224 average during that stretch.
KEY INNINGS
1st | A pair of hits from the Lady Bears resulted in a run to allow Baylor to jump out to the 1-0 lead.
3rd | Baylor threatened to extend its lead, placing a pair of runners on base, but a great play at second from sophomore Paige Hulsey ended the threat to keep the Cougars within arm's length.
7th | After senior Aspen Howie led the inning off with a walk, Brown doubled her home with a ball sent off the wall in center to tie the score at one. In the bottom of the inning, the Lady Bears singled home a run from third to seal the 2-1 victory.
TOP OFFENSIVE PLAYERS
Kati Ray Brown | 1-2, 2B, RBI
Lindsey Stewart-Vaughn | 1-4
Britaney Shaw | 1-2
Paige Hulsey | 1-3
Aspen Howie | R, BB
PITCHING BREAKDOWN
Rachel Hertenberger | 1.0 IP, 2 H, ER, 2 BB
Logan Hulon (L, 0-2) | 5.2 IP, 7 H, ER, 0 BB, 3 K