STEPHENVILLE – Shelby Hedrick's pinch-hit, two-out single in the bottom of the seventh lifted the Tarleton TexAnns to a walk-off victory in game one of a doubleheader split with Midwestern State Sunday afternoon.
 
"I'm really proud of the effort we played with in the first game," said head coach Julie Mata. "Shelby had a great at-bat off the bench and our girls played with so much heart in that first game. In the second game, Haley pitched a great game but we made too many mistakes – which you can't do against a good team. But we'll come back tomorrow, lace 'em up and fix it. I believe in this group and we'll get it fixed."
  
Down by one in the bottom of the seventh, Katelyn Conlee and Shelby Hedrick delivered back-to-back RBI singles with two outs to give the TexAnns a walk-off victory for the first win over Midwestern State since April 3, 2011.
 
The scoring started early and continued often in the first game of the series, beginning in the first when Midwestern State scored the first run of the game before Nyka Wood drove an opposite field single through the right side to bring home Melody Mayse and even things up at 1-1 after one.
 
Tarleton starter Brenna Hennan tossed up a scoreless second while her offense tacked on a pair in the bottom half with a sacrifice fly from Mayse and an RBI single from Savannah Stech to put the TexAnns up 3-1.
 
Midwestern State exploded for a six spot in the top of the third to take a 7-3 lead, but the TexAnns would not back down and the rally was on – starting in the ensuing half-inning.
 
The TexAnns broke through with a pair of RBI singles from Taylor Fitzgerald and Conlee to cut into lead and bring the score to 7-5. Tarleton tied things up after a shutdown top of the fourth inning when Mayse cranked a line drive home run to right fight and Wood drove in her second RBI of the game with a single up the middle to even things at 7-7.
 
The Mustangs retook the lead in the next half-inning and held an 8-7 advantage into the bottom of the seventh before the TexAnn heroics came to life.
 
Rebekah Allen led the inning off with a rip through the left side, was bunted into scoring position by Lauren Powers and then lifted for a pinch-runner with one away. After a pop out put the TexAnn rally one out away from coming up short, Katelyn Conlee laced a single to plate Kaitlyn Thomas from second base for the tying run.
 
Hedrick came through in the clutch with a pinch-hit, walk-off single to left field for the win.
 
Tarleton slugged 12 hits in the game including two-hit efforts from Stech, Wood, Allen and Conlee while Mayse, Powers, Fitzgerald and Hedrick had the rest of the Tarleton offense.
 
Haley Freyman earned her 11^th win of the season with five innings of relief. The freshman right-hander allowed three runs on five hits with three walks and two strikeouts after Hennan threw the first two innings, over which she allowed five runs on five hits and three walks.
  
In the nightcap, errors and stranded base runners cost the TexAnns a sweep with a 4-0 loss to the Mustangs in the first home loss of the season.
 
Freyman, who pitched the final five innings of the first game, got the start and was sensational as the freshman tossed her fourth complete game of the season and allowed just two earned runs on five hits and four walks with a K.
 
Midwestern State scored one in the fourth and one in the seventh to go along with two unearned runs in the fifth while the TexAnns couldn't bring any runs across while stranding seven runners on the base paths.
 
Tarleton got five hits from five different players, including Stech, Wood, Allen, Conlee and Powers.
 
The TexAnns will back in action Monday night at 5 p.m. as they wrap up the series with Midwestern State at the Tarleton State Softball Complex.