STEPHENVILLE – The Tarleton TexAnn softball team needed a win Monday to advance to the Lone Star Conference Championship Tournament this week in Durant, Okla., and thanks to a bottom of the seventh inning comeback, the purple and white got just that, defeating Texas A&M-Kingsville, 4-3.
The TexAnns' Brandie Simmons faced two outs with runners on second and third, and a single off the glove of a diving third baseman scored April Gonzalez from third to lift the TexAnns to the postseason.
"Brandie Simmons came up with a clutch hit, and Julie pitched a great game against a really good hitting team," said Tarleton head coach Julie Mata. "Our seniors really stepped up big today. They were not ready to quit wearing the purple."
The Javelinas, who fell to 22-23 on the season and 8-10 in the LSC South Division with the loss, got on the board first with one run on two hits and two errors in the top of the first inning. The run by Kacee Bryan was scored on an error by Tarleton second baseman Amy Gabbert.
Tarleton tied the game in the bottom of the fourth inning. Gonzalez started the inning with a double to center that just missed flying the fence. She advanced to third on a passed ball. With one out, Victoria Kelly singled to center to score Gonzalez. Brittany Terry singled to short before Tami Sutton singled up the middle to load the bases with two outs. A pop up ended the TexAnn threat, but the game was tied at one run apiece.
In the top of the sixth inning, a two-run home run by Lindsey Brown put the visitors on top, 3-1.
However, in the bottom of the sixth, Tarleton struck again. Arianna Rodriguez doubled to center to start the inning before Kelly singled to right to put runners at the corners. With one out, Simmons singled to left to score Rodriguez. TAMUK then changed pitchers from Amanda Arriaga who started the contest to Brown. With two outs, Gabbert singled to load the bases before Julie Norris walked to score the tying run. A ground out ended the inning with the two teams tied at three runs apiece.
In the top of the seventh, Norris retired all three Javelina batters to set up a possible victory in the home half of the inning. Gonzalez opened the bottom of the final frame with a walk which was followed by a single up the middle by Rodriguez. Kelly reached on a fielder's choice that got Rodriguez out on the ground out at second. Kelly advanced to second on a wild pitch before a ground by Terry put two outs on the board. Simmons then singled to third, and Gonzalez scored the winning run as the ball bounced off the end of the glove.
Norris pitched the complete game to get the victory and improve to 15-13 on the season. She allowed three hits, one walk and three runs, one of which was earned. Norris struck out four batters.
The TexAnns will now face No. 3 Midwestern State at noon on Thursday, May 6 in the first game of the LSC postseason event. The game will be on the radio for fans to listen to, and live stats will also be provided.
"If we will play with this kind of passion, I believe will represent Tarleton very well at the tournament," Mata said.
