Stephen F. Austin
UT-Arlington*
'Jacks Fall 2-0 In Season Finale
4/27/2003 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 27, 2003
NACOGDOCHES, Texas -- SFA closed out its softball season Sunday afternoon with a tough 2-0 loss to Southland Conference champion UT-Arlington. The loss dropped SFA to 27-31, 11-16 on the year. UTA finished the regular season at 35-15, 23-4. The Mavericks claimed the regular season title by a game over Southwest Texas.
The teams had split Saturday's doubleheader with UTA winning game one by a 15-5 margin and SFA taking game two, 5-2. Sunday's series finale was a tight one going into the seventh inning. SFA's Crissy Autry gave up a two run home run with two outs in the top of the seventh for the game's only run. Autry scattered five hits in seven innings of work while striking out eight. That brings her strikeout total for the year to 195 in 165.2 innings.
As good as Autry was, UTA's Katy Cox was a little better no-hitting the 'Jacks and allowing only two baserunners. She hit Lee Lara with a pitch in the fifth inning for the first baserunner of the afternoon for the 'Jacks and allowed pinch hitter Carrie Woydziak to reach on a throwing error in the bottom of the seventh. Both were runners were left stranded.
Trailing 2-0, Woydziak pinch hit for Ragen Rutherford and reached when Cox threw high to first base on a grounder back to the mound. She went to second on the play and was stranded when Cox came back to get two strikeouts and a fly out tend the game.
For the year, SFA saw an 18-game improvement in the win column and won more games overall than any SFA team in the last four years. The 'Jacks also posted 11 conference wins and entered the final weekend of the regular season still alive for a post season tournament berth. The 'Jacks lose only two seniors off this year's team, pitcher Devin Cobb and utility player Meryl McGuire.
