Saturday, March 31
Nacogdoches, Texas
12 p.m.
Stephen F. Austin
19-14, 7-5
3
vs
0
Sam Houston State
12-24, 5-7
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
R
H
E
Sam Houston State
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
4
0
Stephen F. Austin
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
3
3
7
0
Photo by: Hardy Meredith | SFA Photography
Ladyjacks Claim Series over Sam Houston State with Corona’s Three-Run Walk-Off
3/31/2018 2:55:00 PM | Softball
SFA earns third extra-inning win in Southland play, gets three-run walk-off homer from Margarita Corona in bottom eighth
NACOGDOCHES, Texas – Another Southland Conference victory, another extra-inning win. The Stephen F. Austin softball team has made a habit of those as of late as the Ladyjacks (19-14, 7-5 Southland) picked up their third extra-inning win in Southland Conference play this season by earning a 3-0 walk-off victory over Sam Houston State in eight innings Saturday afternoon at the SFA Softball Field. With the eight-inning triumph, SFA earned its third Southland series win (2-1) of the season after splitting games with the Bearkats (12-24, 5-7 Southland) Friday in Nacogdoches.
Still scoreless through seven and a half innings of play, junior first baseman Margarita Corona (Tucson, Ariz.) crushed a three-run home run well over the left field fence for the game-winning hit in the bottom of the eighth inning with just one out. Her walk-off bomb coming on a 2-2 pitch with runners on first and second.
"I knew if we could get back to the top of the lineup, we were going to win that game," head coach Nicole Dickson said after SFA's 19th victory of the season. "For Sikes (Makayla) to go out there and shut them down and turn it over for us back at the top, I knew we were going to win. We knew we were going to have a big inning, we just didn't know when. We were making contact, we were hitting some balls hard and right at them."
Improving to 7-5 in league play this year, the Ladyjacks are off to their best start in conference action since the 2010 season when they began Southland play 10-2.
SFA lined seven hits in the game off of Sam Houston State right-hander ace Lindsey McLeod, who struck out 13 Ladyjack batters in game one of the series Friday and earned a 1-0 complete game shutout. The Ladyjacks were flawless in the field and got eight strikeouts from senior right-hander Makayla Sikes (Gilmer, Texas) in the circle, allowing just four Bearkat hits in the process.
The Ladyjacks collected just one hit in the opening two innings of play before knocking in two in the bottom of the fourth. A single to center field by senior third baseman Amber Landry (Ponchatoula, La.), a sacrifice bunt by Corona and then a single to right field by senior right fielder Autumn Holloway (Cypress, Texas) gave SFA runners in the corners with just one out. However, a strikeout and then a pop up quickly ended the frame.
Sam Houston State had a runner in scoring position just twice in the game and was never able to occupy third as the Bearkats best chance to score came in the top of the seventh. A single to second base by first baseman Codi Carpenter and a single to right field by second baseman Katie Andrie gave Sam Houston State two on with only one out. Sikes and the Ladyjack defense held, forcing a fly out and a ground out to get out of the inning.
After a quick bottom seventh and top eighth with all batters retired in order, SFA got both senior catcher Taylor Fraccastoro (Orange, Texas) and Landry on with one out in the bottom eighth due to hit-by-pitch. Corona was next up and took a strike thrown down the middle yard for her sixth homer of the season, giving the Ladyjacks the 3-0 victory in walk-off fashion.
Landry finished the game 2-for-3 at the plate with a run scored, while Holloway also went 2-for-3. Corona was 1-for-3 with her three RBI and final run of the contest. Sikes (11-6) earned her sixth complete game win of the season by tossing all eight innings and walking just one of 29 batters faced.
Carpenter led Sam Houston State with a 2-for-3 performance, while McLeod (9-8) took the loss in the circle after pitching all seven and 1/3 innings and striking out eight.
"Hats off to Sam Houston State for playing us right, they did a good job scouting our hitters," coach Dickson commented. "Today I was really proud of our kids, coming out early and making some adjustments to do some things differently at the plate. We did a lot better job and had a lot of opportunities to score early, which was positive for us. We had more hits in three innings than we did in the entire first game Friday. Our offense won us the game and our offense got better, but our defense kept us in the game. The fact we had no errors on defense and Makayla Sikes did an excellent job throwing a complete game to the same team."
"Right now, I feel that we are pretty confident but today was fun," Dickson added. "We weren't stressed, we weren't pressing and the players were keeping it light in the dugout. I'm really proud of our players, coming out and making adjustments against a really good pitcher. For us to have seven hits and to keep grinding was awesome. Once again, a great crowd. We love having people out."
Up Next…
The Ladyjacks will remain at home and take on Northwestern State Wednesday, April 4 in a midweek non-conference affair at 5 p.m. Stepping back into league action next weekend, SFA hosts Central Arkansas Friday and Saturday, April 6-7, at SFA Softball Field.
For all weather-related SFA softball schedule changes throughout the 2018 spring season, be sure to keep an eye on SFAJacks.com and follow SFA softball on Facebook (SFA Softball) and Twitter (@SFA_Softball).
Stay tuned to SFAJacks.com, as well as SFA's social media platforms, for complete coverage of Ladyjack softball throughout the season.
-SFA-
Still scoreless through seven and a half innings of play, junior first baseman Margarita Corona (Tucson, Ariz.) crushed a three-run home run well over the left field fence for the game-winning hit in the bottom of the eighth inning with just one out. Her walk-off bomb coming on a 2-2 pitch with runners on first and second.
"I knew if we could get back to the top of the lineup, we were going to win that game," head coach Nicole Dickson said after SFA's 19th victory of the season. "For Sikes (Makayla) to go out there and shut them down and turn it over for us back at the top, I knew we were going to win. We knew we were going to have a big inning, we just didn't know when. We were making contact, we were hitting some balls hard and right at them."
Improving to 7-5 in league play this year, the Ladyjacks are off to their best start in conference action since the 2010 season when they began Southland play 10-2.
SFA lined seven hits in the game off of Sam Houston State right-hander ace Lindsey McLeod, who struck out 13 Ladyjack batters in game one of the series Friday and earned a 1-0 complete game shutout. The Ladyjacks were flawless in the field and got eight strikeouts from senior right-hander Makayla Sikes (Gilmer, Texas) in the circle, allowing just four Bearkat hits in the process.
The Ladyjacks collected just one hit in the opening two innings of play before knocking in two in the bottom of the fourth. A single to center field by senior third baseman Amber Landry (Ponchatoula, La.), a sacrifice bunt by Corona and then a single to right field by senior right fielder Autumn Holloway (Cypress, Texas) gave SFA runners in the corners with just one out. However, a strikeout and then a pop up quickly ended the frame.
Sam Houston State had a runner in scoring position just twice in the game and was never able to occupy third as the Bearkats best chance to score came in the top of the seventh. A single to second base by first baseman Codi Carpenter and a single to right field by second baseman Katie Andrie gave Sam Houston State two on with only one out. Sikes and the Ladyjack defense held, forcing a fly out and a ground out to get out of the inning.
After a quick bottom seventh and top eighth with all batters retired in order, SFA got both senior catcher Taylor Fraccastoro (Orange, Texas) and Landry on with one out in the bottom eighth due to hit-by-pitch. Corona was next up and took a strike thrown down the middle yard for her sixth homer of the season, giving the Ladyjacks the 3-0 victory in walk-off fashion.
Landry finished the game 2-for-3 at the plate with a run scored, while Holloway also went 2-for-3. Corona was 1-for-3 with her three RBI and final run of the contest. Sikes (11-6) earned her sixth complete game win of the season by tossing all eight innings and walking just one of 29 batters faced.
Carpenter led Sam Houston State with a 2-for-3 performance, while McLeod (9-8) took the loss in the circle after pitching all seven and 1/3 innings and striking out eight.
"Hats off to Sam Houston State for playing us right, they did a good job scouting our hitters," coach Dickson commented. "Today I was really proud of our kids, coming out early and making some adjustments to do some things differently at the plate. We did a lot better job and had a lot of opportunities to score early, which was positive for us. We had more hits in three innings than we did in the entire first game Friday. Our offense won us the game and our offense got better, but our defense kept us in the game. The fact we had no errors on defense and Makayla Sikes did an excellent job throwing a complete game to the same team."
"Right now, I feel that we are pretty confident but today was fun," Dickson added. "We weren't stressed, we weren't pressing and the players were keeping it light in the dugout. I'm really proud of our players, coming out and making adjustments against a really good pitcher. For us to have seven hits and to keep grinding was awesome. Once again, a great crowd. We love having people out."
Up Next…
The Ladyjacks will remain at home and take on Northwestern State Wednesday, April 4 in a midweek non-conference affair at 5 p.m. Stepping back into league action next weekend, SFA hosts Central Arkansas Friday and Saturday, April 6-7, at SFA Softball Field.
For all weather-related SFA softball schedule changes throughout the 2018 spring season, be sure to keep an eye on SFAJacks.com and follow SFA softball on Facebook (SFA Softball) and Twitter (@SFA_Softball).
Stay tuned to SFAJacks.com, as well as SFA's social media platforms, for complete coverage of Ladyjack softball throughout the season.
-SFA-
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Sikes, Makayla (11-6)
L: McLeod, Lindsey (9-8)
Batting:
2B: Carpenter, Codi 1
Batting:
2B: Fraccastoro, Taylor 1
HR: Corona, Margarita 1
RBI: Corona, Margarita 3
SH: Corona, Margarita 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Fraccastoro, Taylor 1 ; Landry, Amber 1 ; Corona, Margarita 1
SB: Holloway, Autumn 1
HBP: Fraccastoro, Taylor 1 ; Landry, Amber 1
Game Leaders
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
3
Players Mentioned
INF/C
/ SoftballC/UTIL
/ SoftballOF
/ SoftballC/INF
/ Softball
P
/ Softball2.1.24 | Axe 'Em Insider Ep. 24 x Softball
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Thursday, May 12
