- Tarleton 9, No. 25 Emporia State 8
- Tarleton 5, St. Mary's 3
SAN ANTONIO – The Tarleton TexAnn softball team walked away with two big victories Friday, including a 5-3 win over St. Mary's and a 9-8 win over No. 25 Emporia State at the St. Mary's Round Robin in San Antonio.
The TexAnns (5-1) claimed the win over the nationally-ranked Lady Hornets by scoring in six of the seven innings played and held onto the upset when starting pitcher Samantha Swanda got a double play ball to shortstop Arianna Rodriguez that went to second baseman Kesley Latta on to first baseman Katie Welborn to seal the win.
Tarleton then downed host St. Mary's to finish off the day. The Lady Rattlers received votes in the national poll released by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association.
“We really hit the ball aggressively today, and we played with such intensity,” said Tarleton head coach Julie Mata. “Katie Smith and Samantha Swanda both threw well and complete games against good hitting teams.
“Becca Wessels was a great leadoff hitter today, and she put so much energy into our offense,” Mata continued. “We hit a handful of homeruns and had so many quality at-bats. I am proud that we are putting it all together and working together to improve each day.”
Tarleton hit .328 as a team on Friday and was led by Wessels with a .667 batting average. She had four runs scored, four hits and an .833 slugging percentage in the two games. The TexAnns were also quick on the bags, stealing all seven bags that were attempted. Tarleton had a combined slugging percentage of .623, thanks in part to five home runs (two of which came from Swanda).
Tarleton will play the same two teams on Saturday, Feb. 19 beginning with an 11 a.m. game against the Lady Hornets followed by a 3:30 p.m. game versus St. Mary's.
Tarleton 9, Emporia State 8
In the top of the opening inning, Rebecca Wessels got a lead-off walk before Abigail Tammen singled Wessels home before stealing second. Katie Welborn moved the runner over on a sacrifice bunt. With two outs, Kelsey Latta reached on an error by the third baseman and Tammen scored to give the TexAnns a 2-0 lead.
In the top of the second, with one out, Brittany Dumas homered to increase the Tarleton lead to three runs. The TexAnns added another run in the third when Samantha Swanda sent the ball over the fence to put Tarleton ahead 4-0.
In the bottom of the fourth, Emporia State scored three runs on two hits and two errors, one of which was unearned. Tarleton led, 4-3.
In the top of the fifth, the TexAnns returned to the scoreboard. Wessels opened the frame with a single before moving to second on a passed ball. A Tammen singled put runners at the corners before she stole second. Welborn reached on a fielder's choice that scored Wessels and moved Tammen to third. Marcie Rodriguez pinch ran for Welborn and stole second then Swanda singled to score Tammen and give the TexAnns a 6-3 advantage.
Emporia State came back with four runs on four hits in the bottom of the fifth inning to take a 7-6 lead, but Tarleton was not finished.
In the top of the sixth with one out, Victoria Kelly walked and then advanced to second on a wild pitch. Wessels then doubled, but Kelly was thrown out at the plate trying to score. However, Tammen then doubled to score Wessels to tie the game at seven runs apiece.
In the top of the seventh, Swanda homered to open in the inning before Latta did the same to put Tarleton ahead 9-7 heading into the bottom of the last inning.
Emporia State had a runner on first with two outs when Kat Huffman doubled to score Kait Martin, but Trici Vogel grounded out to Swanda to end the game and give the TexAnns the victory.
Swanda pitched the complete game and gave up 12 hits, eight runs (seven earned) while walking one and striking out eight batters. The Lady Hornets went through three pitchers, and the loss went to Jenn Heerey.
Tarleton 5, St. Mary's 3
St. Mary's got the scoring going first in the bottom of the first frame when the Lady Rattlers scored one run on three hits to take the early lead. The home team then added to the lead with a run on three hits in the bottom of the second to make it 2-0.
However, the TexAnns got the bats going in the top of the fourth. Tarleton's Latta reached on an error by the third baseman before Alexandria Orf reached on a fielder's choice that put Latta out at second. Arianna Rodriguez then homered to put the first two runs across the plate for the TexAnns. Dumas then walked and was pinch ran for by Katie Ross. Marcie Rodrigue singled before Wessels loaded the bases with a walk. With two outs, Welborn walked to score Ross before Swanda was hit by a pitch to score Rodriguez. A Latta line drive to third ended the inning, but Tarleton took a 4-2 lead it would not relinquish.
In the bottom of the fifth, St. Mary's scored one run on four hits to cut the lead to one, 4-3.
As the TexAnns went to the plate in the top of the sixth frame, Wessels got a leadoff single before stealing second. She then stole third. Wessels then scored on a pass ball to put Tarleton ahead 5-3.
Katie Smith, the TexAnns starting pitcher in the game, retired the last eight batters, including all six in the sixth and seventh inning to preserve the win – her first of the season. Smith pitched the complete game and allowed just three earned runs on 10 hits with no walks and three strikeouts.
