Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 ABILENE – Tarleton won the first game of a Saturday afternoon doubleheader to claim a series win before dropping the series finale in a Saturday afternoon split in their final trip to Abilene Christian as LSC rivals.
 
“We did a great job today, except for one inning,” said Tarleton head coach Julie Mata. “It's a shame because we literally handed them one inning of ball that cost us the series sweep. I was proud of so many things in this series as well as the pitching performances we got from Randi (Fentress) and Brenna (Hennan). We will just have to take this lesson and move on to what's next.”
   
Tarleton overcame an early two-run deficit for a come-from-behind 5-3 victory to earn the series win with a 5-3 win in the first game of the doubleheader Saturday.
 
ACU took a quick lead with an RBI triple and a sacrifice fly to take a 2-0 lead after one.
 
Tarleton answered right back in the next half inning with one run on an RBI double by Amber Clifford to plate McKaylee Pittman, who laced a one-out single to center field.
 
Meanwhile, Brenna Hennan was in complete control the rest of the way. The junior hurler allowed just one more run over the final six innings.
 
The Tarleton offense tied the game at 2-2 in the top of the fourth when Bailee Mauldin ripped a one-out double to left center and came in to score three pitches later on an RBI single by Pittman.
 
In the fifth inning, Tarleton went on top for good when Mauldin drove a 2-RBI single up the middle to plate Eryn Freitas and Kelsey Latta, who led off the inning with back-to-back singles.
 
ACU scored their third run on an RBI single in the bottom of the fifth before Tarleton added an insurance run in the top of the seventh on a sacrifice fly by Arianna Rodriguez to bring home Melody Mayse after a triple.
 
Hennan went the distance to earn her third victory in her last three decisions. She allowed three runs on four hits and a walk while striking out 10.
 
Mauldin (2-3) and Pittman (2-3) each recorded a multi-hit game while Latta, Freitas, Clifford and Mayse each had the other hits for Tarleton.
   
In the second game of the doubleheader, Tarleton carried a 1-0 lead over most of the game but a six-run bottom of the sixth allowed the Wildcats to salvage one game of the series.
 
Tarleton scored its only run of the game in the second inning when Shelby Tinklepaugh legged out an infield single with two outs to allow Freitas to come home from third.
 
Neither team put any more runs on the board until the bottom of the sixth when ACU scored seven runs on four hits and three TexAnn errors to take the game.
 
Randi Fentress took the loss after going 5.1 innings allowing two runs – none earned – on four hits and one walk with three strikeouts. Hennan got the final two outs of the sixth after allowing five unearned runs on three hits and one walk.
 
Tarleton only managed three hits in the final game, coming from Mayse, Pittman and Tinklepaugh.
 
The TexAnns will return to action Friday and Saturday when they host Cameron for a conference battle, beginning at 5 p.m. Friday night at TSU Softball Complex.