LONGVIEW, Texas- After securing a 6-3 victory in game one, the long-ball was unable to carry the LeTourneau University softball team past Howard Payne in game two as part of a 7-4 loss to end the night at the LETU Softball Field in Longview, Texas on Friday, March 29th.
LETU moves to 16-10 overall and 13-7 in American Southwest Conference action while Howard Payne improves to 11-14 on the season and 7-10 in ASC action.
Game One:
Just three hits were recorded between the two offenses through three innings of action as LETU waited for a third inning surge to put the first runs on the board. Senior
Macey Mize took matters into her own hands as she sent a no-doubt home run over the left field wall to score
Kennedi Dillow who would reach base earlier in the inning on an infield single as LeTourneau took a 2-0 lead into the fourth inning.
LeTourneau would do more damage in the bottom half of the fifth when Mize tripled to right field to score Dillow for the second time in the game along with
Emilee Anderson to double the LeTourneau lead.
Ethel Warren and
Taylor Nichols each added an RBI of their own in the inning as part of a four-run, four hit output in the frame to extend the lead to 6-0.
Howard Payne used three hits and two LeTourneau errors in the top of the sixth to add a run to the board to cut the deficit to five at 6-1 and would hold the LETU offense scoreless in the bottom of the sixth. HPU gave themselves a sliver of hope in the top of the seventh inning as they sent a two-run home run over the left field wall to cut the lead to 6-3 but would see their rally end as the LETU defense retired the final two batters of game one to double up HPU 6-3.
Bailey Richey tossed a complete game for her sixth victory of the season, allowing just eight hits and striking out four batters in the contest. Dillow led LETU with three hits in the contest while Mize followed with two. Four other YellowJackets recorded hits in the win.
Game Two:
HPU would be the first to strike in game two as they strung together five hits in the top of third to give themselves a 5-0 lead after two scoreless innings to begin the game. Howard Payne would then add to their total in the fifth inning off a two-out RBI single to center field to extend their lead to 6-0.
LeTourneau would finally put a run on the board in the bottom half of the fifth when
Samantha Akers sent a solo shot over the left field wall to light a spark in the LETU offense.
Haydn Parker continued the long-ball rally, sending a home run of her own over the left center wall to score Dillow and pull LeTourneau within three at 6-3.
HPU used a sacrifice fly a half inning later to get a run back and make the score 7-3 and would ultimately hold off a LETU rally in the bottom of the seventh as a leadoff single by
Kiley Banks and an RBI single from Mize posed the last potential push for the LETU offense. HPU managed to hold on for the three run victory, taking game two by a score of 7-4 to send things to a Saturday morning rubber match.
Leigh Luker took the loss for LETU as she allowed seven hits and five runs through 3.2 innings of work. Four LETU hitters saw multi-hit games as Mize, Parker, Nichols and
Katelyn Trombley recorded two hits each. HPU finished the game with just 10 hits compared to 12 for LeTourneau, but would take advantage of two LETU errors in the contest.
What's Next?
LeTourneau and Howard Payne will close out their three-game series on Saturday, March 30th at 11 a.m.
