MAGNOLIA, Ark. – The TexAnn bats came to life in a five-run win over Washburn to highlight a day two split at the Southern Arkansas Invitational.
"We had a better day offensively today and the girls were in attack mode from the get-go," said head coach
Mark Cumpian. "We let a few errors put us in an early hole against Southern Arkansas, but I'm proud of the way we played. We'll learn from the loss and get ready for the next one."
Game 1: Tarleton 11, Washburn 2 (5)
Tarleton put together a pair of four-run innings to back the pitching combination of
Jordan Withrow and
Alyssa Ringhausen to improve to 3-0 on the season.
Nyka Wood got Tarleton on the board first with a two-run home run in the top of the first before Washburn answered with a two spot of its own in the ensuing half inning. The 2-2 score would hold through the second.
Tarleton got three RBI singles from Wood,
Megan Durante, and
Marisa Flores, as well as an RBI double from
Savannah Stech to ignite a four-run third inning. The offense kept pounding away with four more in the fourth on a Wood RBI double, a Durante 2-RBI double, and an RBI fielder's choice from Flores to push the lead to 10-2. A bases loaded walk from Durante in the fifth plated Tarleton's final run of the day.
Wood and Durante each went 3-for-3 at the dish with four RBIs and two runs scored while Stech was 2-for-3 with three runs scored and one RBI.
Kaitlyn Thomas scored three times while Flores had one hit.
Meanwhile,
Alyssa Ringhausen earned a win with 3.2 innings of scoreless relief, over which she struck out five.
Jordan Withrow got the start and allowed two runs in 1.1 innings of work while striking out a pair.
Game 2: No. 5 Southern Arkansas 9, Tarleton 1
A four-run first inning proved to be too much to overcome for Tarleton as the TexAnns dropped their first game of the year 9-1 to No. 5 Southern Arkansas.
Stech put Tarleton on the board first with a sacrifice fly line drive to left field to plate
Maddie Quintanar in the opening frame, but the Muleriders answered with four in the first, one in the second, three in the fourth, and one in the fifth to ultimately ended things.
Quintanar was 2-for-2 with a run scored while Stech,
Avery Mullendore, and Flores each added one base hit.
Haley Freyman took the loss after pitching four innings. Ringhausen made an appearance and recorded two outs in relief.
The TexAnns will wrap up their tournament in Arkansas tomorrow in a rematch with Newman at 11 a.m.
