The softball team’s six-game winning streak came to an end when it lost three consecutive games against Mary Hardin-Baylor on March 21-22.
The Comets took the lead toward the end of the second inning in the first game with back-to-back runs by freshman infielder Kendall Moore and junior infielder Morgan Anderson. They kept the lead until the top of the fourth when Mary Hardin-Baylor scored two runs to level the score.
The game remained close with a final score of 3-4. Junior infielder Jonelle Feikis scored in the fifth inning and the Crusaders scored the winning run in the top of the sixth. Freshman pitcher Lauren McLeod pitched all seven innings and gave up 13 hits.
“I think that our bats finally came together to help give our pitchers support,” Feikis said. “We also had solid defense. We were making game-saving plays.”
The second game of the night resulted in another close loss with a final score of 5-7. The Comets had a hard time getting runs on the scoreboard throughout the first two innings until Anderson gained a run from third base at the bottom of the third at 3-1.
After that, the team claimed four runs in the bottom of the fourth bringing the score to 6-5. Sophomore infielder Sara Navarro started the four-run streak with a single up the middle, followed by another run brought in by junior catcher Avery McHugh and two runs with a triple by sophomore Chelsea Sartor. The Crusaders scored their seventh run of the night in the fifth inning.
“I can live with a couple of mistakes as long as we are there and giving everything,” said head coach Brad Posner. “I think we might have had moments in the game that might have cost us, but overall I was very pleased with the performance.”
The third game did not bring any
better results with the Comets losing again at 8-0. The game ended in six innings due to the mercy rule, which brings the game to an early end if a team has an 8 point lead over the other within five innings.
McLeod gave up five runs in the top of the second inning, and freshman pitcher Sara Davison went on to give up three runs. UTD struggled with its defensive and offensive plays throughout the game.
“We struggled on a lot of ends. We didn’t pitch, we didn’t hit and we didn’t field,” Posner said. “It kind of snowballed.”
The Crusaders gained two more runs in the top of the sixth inning.
“We were not as intense as we were on Friday,” Davison said. “We were just going through the motions.”
The team played Westminster in nonconference play on March 25 and won both of the afternoon’s games.
Westminster was shutout during the first game due to the Comet’s strong pitching. The team scored four runs in the third inning and gained two more runs off a triple by sophomore catcher Jessica Ramos in the fourth inning of the game. Junior pitcher Jessie Richardson and Davison pitched the entire game with only two hits and zero runs. The final score was 6-0.
UTD continued its strong offense and scored its first run in the first inning of the second game. One run was scored in the third inning by freshman pitcher Taylor Nabors. Three runs were scored in the fourth inning and two more runs were scored in the fifth inning, taking the score to 7-1. Westminster managed one run in the top of the third inning. Junior pitcher Megan Aragones pitched four innings allowing four hits and one run. McLeod pitched three innings allowing one hit and zero runs.
UTD will host seven home games in a row beginning on April 1 against the University of Dallas, UT Tyler and LeTourneau.
Advertisement
Advertisement
