SHERMAN, Texas – The newly-ranked No. 25 Southwestern University Pirates softball team swept the first doubleheader of a four-game conference road series against the Austin College Kangaroos with a pair of strong pitching performances.
Game 1 – Southwestern 9, Austin College 0
Starting pitcher Lindsey Longuet continues to put together one of the strongest statistical seasons in the SCAC, throwing her third consecutive conference one-hitter with a complete-game victory over Austin College.
Southwestern struck early with Katie Bricarell hitting a two-run home run in the bottom of the first two outs, scoring Kaitlynn Copher, who doubled to right-center.
Longuet faced brief trouble in the bottom off the second, loading the bases with two outs off a hit batter and two walks but struck out Elizabeth Parks to end the inning. Longuet and the Pirate defense retired the Kangaroos in order in the third and fourth inning, breaking the game open in the top of the fifth.
Andrea Hern opened the inning reaching on an error. After Kylie Nixon popped out, Celeste Silvas singled to left field and Copher hit an infield single to load the bases. Bricarell followed with a grand slam home run to left field for her 10th home run of the season.
The Pirates loaded the bases again, setting up Izzy Richey's RBI groundout to second. Hern followed with a two-RBI single, scoring Tori Montemayor and Katelyn Francis to put the game into mercy rule territory.
Longuet surrendered a leadoff double in to Mari Prazak in the bottom of the fifth but struck out the next two and induced a fly out to left field to end the game. Longuet gave up one hit with four walks and seven strikeouts, adding to her conference-leading total.
Copher and Bricarell each hit 2-for-3 and two runs scored with Bricarell hitting six RBI.
Game 2 – Southwestern 7, Austin College 0
Bricarell hit her third home run of the day and Bailey Meyer pitched another complete game to give the Pirates the 7-0 victory.
Both teams wasted opportunities early, combining to leave nine runners stranded through two scoreless first innings.
The Pirates loaded the bases with the first three batters, getting a leadoff double from Montemayor and a pair of infield singles from Silvas and Copher before Bricarell grounded into a double play and Maddie Mefford ended the inning on a groundout to third.
Meyer struggled with her control early, striking out the first two hitters of the game but walking the next two before ending the inning by inducing a Martinez pop up.
The Pirates put two on in the top of the second and the Kangaroos loaded the bases in the bottom of the inning with neither team picking up a hit, taking advantage of a hit batter and walks before getting out of the jam.
Southwestern finally broke through in the third on Copher's RBI single through the right side, scoring Silvas, who reached on an error. Two walks and two outs later, Jordan Farber reached on an error, scoring Copher and Hern walked with bases loaded to score Bricarell.
The Pirates scored one run in each of the next four innings. Copher hit a RBI-double to centerfield in the fourth, Montemayor singled up the middle to score Farber in the fifth, Bricarell homered in the sixth, and Hern hit a sacrifice fly RBI in the seventh to give the Pirates the 7-0 lead.
Meyer pitched all seven innings, giving up just two hits but walking seven with seven strikeouts. Bricarell became the first SCAC player to hit double digits in homeruns with 10, hitting 1-for-2 with one RBI and two runs scored and two walks in Game 2.
Copher finished 3-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored.
With the wins, the Pirates improve to 29-4 and 14-3 in conference. Austin College dropped to 1-30 and 1-19 in conference. Southwestern and Austin College will take a break on Saturday due to weather and resume the series on Sunday with the doubleheader starting at noon.