FORT WORTH, Texas – On their third try to play the games, the Mid-America Christian University finally got their away twin bill at Texas Wesleyan University played on Wednesday. The Lady Evangels drove south to Fort Worth to take on the Lady Rams less than a week after the teams split their double dip at MACU on April 19.
MACU (32-16, 13-13 SAC) kept things close and pitched well all day, but the offense sputtered, managing only three runs as Texas Wesleyan (36-16, 20-8 SAC) took wins of 4-2 and 3-1 in the two games.
Texas Wesleyan opened the scoring in the first frame when they took advantage of a leadoff walk to score a run against Caitlin Butler without the benefit of a hit or an error. Butler induced a pair of groundouts – the second of which scored the run, and a fly out, and in the second, MACU answered.
Alanna Leisy singled in the top of the second, and Jessica Johnson doubled home Leisy, but she was thrown out trying to stretch it into a triple for the third out of the inning.
The Rams reclaimed the lead in the third with a run on a two out single, and in the fifth, they added two more on a two-run homer from Hailey Hollingsworth to push their lead to 4-1.
Kortney Brown reached on a walk to lead off the sixth inning for the Lady Evangels, and she advanced to third on a throwing error that allowed Hannah Salmon to reach base. Salmon stole second, and Hanna Harris singled home Brown to put the tying run aboard with nobody out. Leisy sacrificed Harris to second, but the Lady Evangels were unable to plate either runner in scoring position, and the inning ended with MACU still trailing 4-2.
MACU put the tying runs on again in the seventh frame, but a fielder's choice ground ball and a pair of foul pop ups ended the game in a 4-2 Texas Wesleyan victory.
Makenna Aycock (13-4) earned the complete game victory in the circle, allowing two earned runs on six hits, three walks, and one strikeout in seven innings. Caitlin Butler (3-3) was tagged with the loss as she gave up four earned tallies on five hits, three walks, and one strikeout in four and one-third innings. Taylor Bankston got the last five outs for the Lady Evangels, allowing one hit and striking out one.
Harris was 2-for-3 with the RBI, Johnson had the only extra-base hit for MACU in the game along with an RBI, and Leisy and Brown scored runs for the Lady Evangels.
Game two made it scoreless into the bottom of the third inning before Texas Wesleyan again drew first blood. The Rams got a two out single from Bailey Terry that scored Kayla Prachyl, but MACU hurler Regan Martin managed to escape the inning without further damage. In the fifth, Jenna Rhoades tripled in Prachyl, and Terry followed with her second run scoring hit of the game, and TWU opened their lead to 3-0.
Ribbin Anderson got the Lady Evangels on the board in the top of the sixth frame. Anderson took the first pitch of the inning and ripped a shot inside the foul line in right field and from there, her wheels took over. She raced around the bases for an inside-the-park home run – her first career round-tripper – to cut the deficit to 3-1. MACU put the tying runs aboard with two outs in the inning, but Sidney Stewart wiggled off the hook and the margin remained 3-1 after the inning concluded.
MACU again got the tying run to the plate in the seventh when Amber O'Bryant led off the frame with a single, but three straight ground outs ended the game, as Texas Wesleyan completed the sweep.
Stewart (8-6) scattered five hits in seven innings, and she yielded one earned run with one walk and four strikeouts. Martin (10-5) took the loss, allowing three runs on nine hits, one walk, and two strikeouts.
O'Bryant notched a pair of base hits in the game, and Anderson, Salmon, and Leisy had the only other hits for MACU in the game.
MACU will hit the road again this weekend, heading to Goodwell, Oklahoma for a four-game weekend series at Oklahoma Panhandle State University (19-28, 6-18 SAC). Friday afternoon's double-header is slated to begin at 2 p.m., and Saturday's twin-bill is scheduled for Noon.
