Stephen F. Austin
Sam Houston State
Late Heroics Clinch Spot in SLC Tournament for SFA
5/3/2014 12:00:00 AM | Softball
May 3, 2014
Boxscores: Game 1 | Game 2
HUNTSVILLE, Texas – It was a Saturday split for Stephen F. Austin on the road against rival Sam Houston State. The Ladyjacks fell 4-0 in the first game and then with some late-game heroics and two flashy defensive plays by Taylor LeFlore in the bottom of the eighth, SFA got the 5-4 win in Game 2 and solidify a spot in the Southland Conference Tournament.
SFA (23-25, 13-11) is guaranteed a spot in the Southland Conference Tournament with the split while Sam Houston State (26-24, 15-10) locked itself into at least third place. Three other teams are locked into the tournament with one final spot and seeding up for grabs on Sunday.
The second game of the doubleheader went to extra innings and was not short on drama in the extra frame.
With Nicole Wooten and Chelsie Wilson pinch running on second and first base, respectively, a pitch in the dirt allowed the runners to advance. SHSU catcher Tiffany Castillo threw down to third base but hit batter Elizabeth Arana in the head with the ball bouncing off her helmet into center field.
Wooten would score on the ricochet to give SFA the 5-4 lead with Wilson advancing to third. Sam Houston State’s head coach argued the play, but it was ruled a fair play as Arana did not interfere with the throw and was standing idle in the batter’s box when the ball was thrown off her helmet allowing the go-ahead run to score.
Carlie Thomas came in to pitch the eighth in relief of Brittany Lewis to get the save. The Bearkats threatened with a lead-off single, followed by a sacrifice bunt to advance the runner to second. Then, a hard liner was hit right at third baseman Taylor LeFlore down the line. The ball popped up out of LeFlore’s glove but she recovered to make the out.
After a walk to put two runners on, LeFlore again got to play the defensive hero. A hard shot was hit to her left by leadoff hitter Taylor Gray. LeFlore dove to her left and snagged it on one quick hop. She bounced up and tagged the advancing runner out to end the game.
Lewis (7-9) got the win and helped her cause at the plate hitting 2-for-4 with a two-run homer in the first inning when SFA jumped to a 3-0 lead. Shalie Day hit a solo home run that put SFA on top 4-3 in the fifth inning.
Game 1 was a pitchers duel until the sixth inning when SHSU opened the bottom half of the inning with a triple. Two more singles and a double would help the Bearkats score four runs in the inning and take the 4-0 lead.
Thomas had allowed just one hit to that point in the game when SHSU found its groove. Thomas allowed only five hits in the loss and tallied one strikeout. SHSU’s Shelby Lancaster got the win allowing only three hits.
With the split the Ladyjacks are guaranteed a spot in the Southland Conference Tournament thanks to Central Arkansas also splitting on the day against Nicholls. UCA entered the weekend in seventh place. Now the best the Sugar Bears can finish in league play is 13-13. If the Ladyjacks were to lose Sunday’s final game of the series, they would be 13-12 and hold a higher winning percentage than UCA.
sfajacks.com
