- Cameron Box Score
- MSU Box Score
SAN ANTONIO – The Tarleton TexAnn softball team finished the first day of the St. Mary's Classic 1-1 after defeating Cameron in the first game of the day (4-1) before falling to Midwestern State (6-2).
The TexAnns (1-3) were led by Julie Norris on the mound who threw a two-hitter in the first game and retired 13 straight to end the day – 10 in game one and all three batters she faced in the second game. Norris still has a 0.00 earned run average for the season and has struck out 11 with just one walk. Opponents are averaging .155 against the senior.
Tarleton returns to action on Saturday, Feb. 6 with a game against East Central at 1 p.m. followed by a 7 p.m. contest against Texas-Permian Basin. Tarleton will conclude the tournament with a noon contest on Sunday, Feb. 7 against Texas A&M-International.
Tarleton 4, Cameron 1
Tarleton claimed its first victory of the season with the win over Cameron. CU got the first run on the board in the bottom of the second inning on a hit and two errors.
The TexAnns struck back in the top of the third frame when Rebecca Wessels reached on a walk with one out. She then stole second before advancing to third on a Tami Sutton ground out. Brittany Terry then singled to center field to tie the score at one run apiece.
Wessels walked to start the top of the fifth prior to a Sutton single that put runners at first and second. With one out, Julie Norris singled to shortstop to load the bases. Victoria Kelly grounded out to second, but Wessels scored. Then an error by the first baseman moved Sutton home and Norris to third. A single by April Gonzalez to left scored Norris to give the TexAnns the 4-2 win after Norris shut down the Aggies' next nine batters in a row.
“The team really responded with character and intensity in this first game today,” said head coach Julie Mata. “We put the speed on bases and pressured their defense. MSU will be a big challenge for us.”
Norris threw all seven innings against the Aggies and allowed just two hits. One unearned run scored while she walked one, hit two and struck out five. Only one runner got past second base, and Norris retired the last 10 batters she faced.
Wessels scored two runs and walked twice. Both Sutton and Norris were one-for-four at the plate to lead the TexAnns who had four this and three runs batted in.
Midwestern State 6, Tarleton 2
MSU struck early, scoring two runs on three hits in the bottom of the first inning, but the TexAnns shut them down the next two frames.
Then, in the bottom of the fourth, the Mustangs scored four runs on five hits to take a 6-0 lead.
Tarleton was connecting with the ball in the first six innings, but the TexAnns could not string anything together until the top of the seventh when they tried to mount a comeback.
The TexAnns' Arianna Rodriguez started the inning with a single to center followed by a Meagan Eldridge walk. Amy Gabbert then doubled to push Eldridge to third and Rodriguez home. Following a strikeout by Wessels, Sutton singled to score Eldridge and put runners on the corners. A ground out into a double play ended the comeback try.
“We made some untimely errors again in this game, but we really did a lot of things well on the day,” Mata said. “Our intensity level stayed high and we put the ball in play. We played hard, and I know we are moving in the right direction.”
Katie Smith started the game for the TexAnns in the circle. She pitched five innings and allowed six runs on nine hits with a walk and three strikeouts. Brandie Simmons pitched against one batter and walked her before Norris tallied three outs with two strikeouts.
