GEORGETOWN, Texas - The Pirate softball team started the day off strong winning 9-5 over TLU in game one, but struggled to secure the ball in game two, falling 5-3 to the Bulldogs.
In game one the Pirates used two big innings to secure the win. After scoring first by posting three runs in the bottom of the second inning Texas Lutheran answered with three runs of their own in the third, bringing the game even again 3-3. SU would not be bested an threw five runs up in their half of the inning to push their lead to five, 8-3.
The Bulldogs posted one run in the top of the fourth and tacked on one more run in the sixth to pull within three, 8-5.
Southwestern scored one more in the bottom of the sixth and then closed out the game in four batters at the top of the ninth to win game one 9-5.
Taylor Turpin was big in game one, going 2-3 with two runs while Amanda Ambrose tallied three RBI’s in the contest. Lyndsy Maus was strong in relief going 4.2 innings on the mound and allowing two runs on seven hits while striking out two and walking none to earn the save. Starting pitcher Kaitlyn Pavlicek secured the win going 1.2 innings to open the game.
Southwestern continued their momentum as game two got underway. Katelyn Gola reached on a fielder’s choice and then stole second and then hustled around to score on an arrant throw down that trailed into left field to give SU a 1-0 lead after the first inning.
After a scoreless second the Bulldogs put one run of their own on the board in the third but the Pirates answered with a run when Pavlicek drove in Haley Hughes with a two-out triple that snuck inside first base and rolled to the right field corner. Pavlicek scored on a wild pitch putting SU on top 3-1 at the end of the third.
Texas Lutheran threatened in the fourth, loading the bases against starting pitcher Kara Solomon with a walk and two singles. Maus stepped back to the mound and got McMillian to pop out to Ambrose at short and Childs to pop out to Pulver at second to escape the jam.
At the top of the fifth the Bulldogs loaded the bases again with a single and a couple of Pirate errors with no outs, forcing another SU pitching change bringing Pavlicek back to the mound. After striking out the first batter she faced Pavlicek got out of the inning with TLU scoring two and tying the game up 3-3.
The Bulldogs took the lead in the sixth thanks to Pirate errors and well placed ground balls, going up 5-3 with and inning and a half to go.
The Pirates, however, couldn’t push one across the plate despite getting runners in scoring position and ended the day with a 5-3 game two loss.
Hughes went 2-4 in game two to lead the Pirates at the plate while TLU was led by Stewart who was 4-4 with one run and one RBI.
The split moves SU to 6-5 on the season and they will test their skills further with six games in Arizona over the coming weekend beginning with a double header against Augsburg on Saturday.