ABILENE, Texas - The Southwestern University softball team combined for 21 runs on 29 hits as they split with the McMurry War Hawks in their season opener, winning game one 13-4 before falling 9-8 in the nightcap at Red Bud Park on Friday evening.
Sophomore Sydney Scott began the 2018 season with a double to left and following an error by McMurry, sophomore Kaitlynn Copher put the Pirates on the board with a RBI single. Later in the inning, senior Taylor Curtis singled home two more runs for a 3-0 lead.
McMurry got a run back in the bottom half of the first, but sophomore Andrea Hern drove in a run after a stolen base from sophomore Izzy Jack to get the lead back to three runs. Again, the War Hawks answered in the fourth, cutting the deficit back to one.
Jack, Curtis, and Hern started the fifth inning with back-to-back-to-back singles to load the bases for sophomore Katie Bricarell, who blasted a grand slam to blow the game wide open at 8-2. Scott added a RBi on a ground out to extend the lead 9-2.
Southwestern scored four more runs in the seventh and ran away with a 13-4 win in the first game of the year.
Sophomore Bailey Meyer (1-0) earned the win, moving to 1-0 on the season as she pitched a complete game, allowing four runs (two earned) on eight hits including four strikeouts and five walks.
Bricarell had the big at bat, finishing 1-for-1 in the game while three different players had three hits or more. Scott finished 3-for-4 with a double, a RBI, and two runs scored while Curtis was 3-for-5 with three RBIs. Hern went 3-for-5 with a RBI and run scored.
Jack, Copher, and freshmen Grace Phelps and Katelyn Francis all had two runs scored. Francis tacked on a double in the game. Jack and Hern each had stolen bases.
Ashley McClellan led McMurry, going 2-for-4 with a double, a stolen base, and two runs scored. Cheyenne West (0-3) took the loss for the War Hawks.
It was a wild second game as Southwestern again took a 3-0 lead in the top half of the first, but this time McMurry answered with two of their own. The Pirates appeared to be in control, scoring three more runs in the second for a 6-2 lead, but a four run second by the War Hawks tied it back at six.
From there, McMurry scored one in the third and two in the fourth, holding off a Southwestern rally late in the contest as the new softball program earned their first ever win, 9-8.
Jack finished 3-for-3 with a double and two RBIs while Copher, Hern, and junior Celeste Silvas were each 2-for-4 with Copher scoring two runs. Scott added a triple to her impressive day.
Four different pitchers took the circle for Southwestern as sophomores Brooke Tomalty and Nadia Netek pitched the first innings. Eventually, junior Isabella Robb (0-1) was saddled with the loss. Freshman Tori Montemayor put together three solid innings of work, allowing no runs on three hits.
Rachel Ripley led McMurry, going 2-for-4 with five RBIs including a home run and two runs scored. Crystal Peebles (1-0) earned the win while West (1) got the save.
Southwestern started the young season 1-1 and will return to action Saturday as they will remain in Abilene for a doubleheader against Hardin-Simmons beginning at 1 PM.