Stephen F. Austin
A&M-Corpus
Islanders Edge Past SFA
4/9/2011 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 9, 2011
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - The Stephen F. Austin Ladyjack softball team dropped two games at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi by a combined total of just three runs Saturday in the series-opening doubleheader against the Islanders. A&M-Corpus took Game 1, 2-0, and finished the day with a 1-0 win in the second game.
The pair of defeats moves SFA to 8-28 on the year and 4-13 in Southland Conference play. The Islanders improve to 33-10 with a 17-3 mark against league competition.
A&M-Corpus got both its runs in the opener in the first inning. The Islanders used a walk, a single and a hit batter to load the bases with no outs. After SFA starter Monika Covington got the first out of the game on a strikeout, Hannah Schwarz scored on a wild pitch. The Islanders would add their second run in the next at-bat when Lauren Dodson fouled out to right, bringing Lauren Sanders home to score.
Covington would allow just two more hits over the next five innings and didn't let a runner advance past second, but the Ladyjacks were unable to push a run across.
SFA loaded the bases with one out in the fourth when Jessica Arana and Lauren Luetge wrapped singles around a walk by Bethany Brown. But the Islanders retired the next batter on strikes then got out of the inning on a ground ball.
Krista Hallmark got a two-out double in the top of the seventh, but it was SFA's only other hit in the game.
Covington (3-15) worked six innings, allowing two runs on three hits and two walks. She struck out three.
In the second game, Carlie Thomas took a four-hit shutout into the sixth inning before a pair of two-out hits provided the Islanders with the only run they would need.
Cassie Redman got on with a two-out bunt single, then took second on a wild pitch. She would come around to score on a base knock to right by Jamise Jackson.
SFA had a pair of two-hit innings in the game but was unable to capitalize. Luetge got a one-out base knock in the second then took second on a ground-out. She would move to third on a base hit up the middle by Lacy Liles, but Luetge was stranded there on an inning-ending ground ball.
Amber Price led off the fourth with a double to the gap in right-center. Brown followed with a single through the left side of the infield, but Price had to hold at third. After Brown moved to second on a ground ball to the right side, the Islanders threw behind Price at third, effectively ending the threat. The next batter grounded out to end the inning.
Thomas (5-9) worked six innings with one earned run on six hits and three walks. She struck out four.
The series will wrap up Sunday with one game scheduled to start at noon.
-- SFA --
