Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

CEDAR HILL, TX:  The Texas Wesleyan University softball team (21-16, 14-10 SAC) swept a Sooner Athletic Conference doubleheader at Northwood University (13-30, 10-14 SAC) on Wednesday.  The Rams won with scores of 2-1 and 6-3.
 
Barring a meeting in the Sooner Athletic Conference tournament, Wednesday's doubleheader marked the all-time series finale between the two programs.  Northwood will be closing its athletic department at the end of the season.  In a rivalry that was both bitter and highly entertaining, the teams met 74 times with the Knights holding a slight edge at 40-34.
 
In game one, the Rams got on the board in the third inning.  With one out, Meagen Alvarez flared a base hit to left.  Alvarez stole second and scored when Northwood's centerfielder bobbled a sharp single from Amber Tucker.  Tucker later displayed some heads up base running when she scored from second on a groundout to second, and the Rams led 2-0.
 
Meanwhile the reigning SAC Pitcher of the Week, Amber Marlett, carried a no-hitter into the fifth inning.  Susu Taylor led off the fifth with a single that just eluded the glove of a diving Raven Moreno at shortstop.  Marlett set the next three hitters down in order with no harm done.
 
The Knights got a rally started in the sixth.  A Texas Wesleyan error and a single from Jordan Wright put two on with no outs.  Shelby Melvin followed with an RBI single.  With runners at second and third, Marlett induced a fly to shallow left and then struck out Taylor to end the inning.
 
Marlett (13-3), who has allowed just one earned run in her last 19 innings, allowed an unearned tally on three hits while striking out eight in a complete game effort.
 
In game two, the contest was scoreless in the third when Northwood leftfielder Alyssa Cabral-Johnson came up with a tremendous defensive play.  Tucker lifted a ball foul down the left field line.  Cabral-Johnson reached over the short fence to make the catch nearly falling over the wall.  She then recovered and threw a runner out at third for an inning-ending double-play.
 
A Texas Wesleyan error led to a Northwood run in the bottom of the third.  The Lady Rams loaded the bases with one out in the fourth.  Kali Jester tied the game with an RBI safety.  A single from Ashley Seibel then put the Rams on top, but the Knights threw a runner out at the plate and got a strikeout to hold the score at 2-1.
 
The game briefly swung back to Northwood's favor in the bottom of the fourth when the Knights' pitcher, Anne Dierks, cracked a two-run home run, but Tucker answered with a solo shot in the fifth that tied the game at 3-3.
 
Seibel ripped double into the left-center gap that plated Lauren Davis in the sixth.  The Rams finally got a bit of a cushion with two outs in the inning when an infield single by Kendall Kizer plated two more runs.
 
The Knights put two on with none out in the bottom of the seventh, but Amanda Windham was up to the task, ending the game with three straight fly ball outs.
 
Windham (5-6) picked up the win after allowing three runs, two earned, on six hits while striking out four in seven innings of work.
 
Kizer went 3-for-4 at the plate.  Tucker, Jester, and Seibel each had two hits as the Lady Rams outhit the Knights 11-6.
 
The Lady Rams will return to action on Friday, when they host the University of Science & Arts.  That SAC doubleheader is scheduled for a 5:00 p.m. start at Sycamore Park.