FORT WORTH, TX: The Texas Wesleyan University softball team (2-2) went 1-2 in the first day of the Cowtown Classic on Friday. The Lady Rams took a hard fought 7-8 loss in extra innings to Oklahoma Wesleyan before dropping a 3-6 game to Central Methodist. The Lady Rams came back to win the night cap 10-2 in six innings over McPherson College.
Against Oklahoma Wesleyan, the Eagles put runners at second and third in the bottom of the first inning, but
Brittany Rosenberry snared a line drive back up the middle and went to second for an inning-ending double play.
In the third, the Eagles used a pair of infield singles from the top two hitters in their lineup, Michaela Shouldis and Brianna Miller, to start a 3-run rally.
Dani West got the Rams on the board in the fourth when she led off with a bunt single, stole second, and scored on an OWU throwing error. Two errors left the door open, and the Rams exploded for 6 more runs on 4 more hits to take a 7-3 lead. The rally was highlighted by an RBI double from
Bailey Terry and a two-run single from West. In the inning, West was 2-for-2 with 2 RBI, 2 stolen bases and a run scored.
The Eagles chipped into the lead with a two-run double from Britney Howard in the fifth to cut the lead to 7-5.
OWU did the improbable and tied the contest 7-7 in the seventh inning on a Katelyn Cook RBI single down the right field line to force extras.
Makayla Kelly was placed on second in the eighth for the Eagles because of extra inning rules. The player moved to third, but Wesleyan got the out at the plate on a fielder's choice play to stay alive. Wesleyan committed an error at the wrong moment, allowing a run to score and the Eagles escaped with an 8-7 win.
In the Central Methodist contest, the Lady Rams grabbed a 2-1 lead in the second, due to a West single and steal combo that set up runners in scoring position. She would later score on a wild pitch as would her teammate
Kaley Batchlear.
That lead would hold until the Eagles exploded for four runs in the fifth to take 5-2 advantage. TWU got a run back in the bottom half of the inning on a Rosenberry RBI base hit, but Wesleyan could not make a comeback falling 6-3
In the game versus McPherson, the Bulldogs took an early lead on a Katie Holmes RBI double to left center for a 1-0 edge in the first.
The Lady Rams got that run back with some tailed small ball ordered up by head coach
Shannon Gower. After
Demi Dotson reached on a walk,
Kayla Prachyl caught the defense off guard with a bunt for a base hit to make it a first and third situation. Gower put on the double steal and Dotson and Prachyl executed it to perfection to knot the game up at one apiece heading into the fourth inning.
McPherson came up with a two out run in the top of the fifth after a lead-off walk came back to bite the Rams. Cassandra Moreno knocked one into shallow right center to break the tie for a 2-1 lead.
The Lady Rams responded in a big way in the next half inning, starting with a slap shot up the middle for a single by
Dani West. That sparked six more hits including a two RBI triple by
Mackenzie Kirkpatrick. The Lady Rams poured in on and a Batchlear RBI groundout forced the run rule to take effect to end the game at 10-2.
West led the Rams on the day going 5-10 with two RBI, five runs scored, and seven stolen bases
Aizia Azarcon went 4-9 with three RBI on the day.
The Lady Rams will be back in action for day two of the Cowtown Classic tomorrow starting at 1:00 pm in a game against St. Mary's University (TX) before taking on the University of Houston-Victoria at 3:00 pm
