Stephen F. Austin
Nicholls State
Ladyjacks Hold Off Colonels
4/18/2009 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 18, 2009
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - The Stephen F. Austin Ladyjack softball team extended its winning streak to five games with a crucial, series-opening 4-3 win over Nicholls State Saturday at Hoya Field. The victory brings the Ladyjacks within two wins of tying their longest winning streak of the season and leaves SFA just a game shy of moving into a tie with Nicholls State in the Southland Conference standings. The Colonels entered the weekend series as the league's second-place team.
The Ladyjacks are now 24-21 on the season with a 13-9 mark in SLC play. Nicholls State falls to 29-17 on the year and 14-8 in league action. The win moved SFA from sixth to fourth in the SLC standings, just half a game behind third-place McNeese State.
SFA overcame a shaky defensive outing thanks to a record-breaking home run by freshman Kayla Gutowski and a timely double off the bat of Ashley Struchtemeyer.
Gutowski got the Ladyjacks out to a good start in the bottom of the first inning, when she launched a three-run homer into the trees beyond the left-field fence. The three RBI moved her into first place on the SFA single-season list with 40 for the year. The homer was also the Ladyjacks' 44th of the season as a team, breaking the record set by last year's squad.
Junior Kendal Harper had led off the inning with a double to left-center. The moved to third on a passed ball, and Crystal Garcia drew a walk to put two on for Gutowski. The freshman blasted Lacy Gros' 2-2 offering out the park to stake SFA to a 3-0 lead.
Nicholls responded with a run in the top of the third. After Megan Gaspard got on with a two-out, infield hit, Kodi Butler singled through the right side, moving Gaspard to third. The next batter, Audrey Wood, reached base on a fielding error, scoring Gaspard.
The Ladyjacks answered with a run in the bottom half to keep the margin at three. Garcia led off with a single, then moved to second when Briana Bishop drew a one-out walk. After a strikeout, Struchtemeyer laced the first pitch she saw down the left-field line, scoring Garcia from second. Bishop took third on the play, and Struchtemeyer coasted into second behind her, but they were stranded by a fly ball.
The Colonels pushed across another run with two out in the top of the fourth. Back-to-back singles by Logan Johnson and Kayla Watterson gave Nicholls a pair of runners with one out. SFA starter Monika Covington got the next batter to pop up on the infield, but Whitney Roan poked a single into shallow left-center, scoring pinch-runner Karla Troxler from second for Nicholls' second run.
The Colonels would add another run in the sixth, again scoring with two out. Watterson led off with a double down the left-field line. A sacrifice bunt and a strikeout later, Gaspard beat out an infield single to score Watterson and bring Nicholls within a run of tying the score.
Nicholls got a runner on with one out in the top of the seventh, when Danielle Clayton was hit by a pitch. But the contest ended on the next at-bat, when Lyndsay Mesh hit into a fielder's choice at third base. Clayton was called for interference at second base, turning the play into a game-ending double play.
Covington (16-11) was charged with two earned runs on eight hits. She didn't issue a walk and struck out five batters. That marks her eighth straight starting appearance with at least five strikeouts.
Harper and Garcia each finished with two hits to lead SFA, which posted eight as a team. Gutowski, Daley, Karissa Jones and Struchtemeyer were each 1-for-3. The multi-RBI game was Gutowski's 13th of the season, a team-high.
The series will wrap up Sunday with a doubleheader. Game 1 is set to begin at 1 p.m. from Hoya Field.
-- SFA --
