GREENSBORO, N.C. / ELON, N.C. – Tarleton State Softball opened play at the UNCG Tournament in strong fashion on Friday, earning a pair of victories with an 8-1 win over Lehigh and a 7-3 comeback win over Elon.
The Texans improved to 18-9 overall and 2-0 in tournament play after using an explosive second inning to run away from Lehigh before rallying from an early three-run deficit against Elon behind a home run by Jaelynn Duke and a complete game from Shelby Schultz.
Tarleton State 8, Lehigh 1
Tarleton State opened the weekend with an emphatic 8-1 victory over Lehigh at UNCG Softball Stadium, using an eight-run second inning to take control early.
After a scoreless first inning, the Texans broke through in the bottom of the second and capitalized on a pair of Lehigh errors to ignite the rally. Isabella Bojkovic drew a leadoff walk before Addison Wittram singled to put two aboard. Hayden Fox then reached on a throwing error by the third baseman, allowing Bojkovic to score the game's first run while Wittram moved to third and Fox advanced to second.
Following a lineout, Macie Vickers worked a walk to load the bases, and Duke reached on a fielding error by the shortstop that plated both Wittram and Fox to stretch the lead to 3-0. Braylin Pannill followed with a two-run single to center, scoring Vickers and Duke to make it 5-0.
Madison Runyan then doubled to left center and later advanced on a wild pitch that also brought in Pannill, pushing the advantage to 6-0. Bojkovic kept the inning going with an RBI single through the left side to score Runyan, and Casey Schultz capped the frame with an RBI double to left that scored Bojkovic for the Texans' eighth run of the inning.
Lehigh answered with its lone run in the top of the third after Kelly Fricker tripled to center and later scored on a fielder's choice, trimming the deficit to 8-1.
That would be all the Mountain Hawks could manage as the Texan pitching staff shut the door the rest of the way. Shelby Schultz started in the circle and tossed two scoreless innings with three strikeouts before Duke entered in relief and earned the win, allowing one run on three hits across five innings.
Tarleton State totaled 11 hits in the opener, led by Runyan's 3-for-4 performance with two doubles. Bojkovic finished 2-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored, while Pannill drove in two and Schultz added an RBI double.
Tarleton State 7, Elon 3
The Texans closed out day one with a comeback victory over Elon, erasing an early three-run deficit to defeat the Phoenix 7-3 at Hunt Softball Park.
Elon struck first in the bottom of the second, stringing together five hits to plate three runs. A two-run infield single from Payton Swart gave the Phoenix a 2-0 lead before Greta Hessenthaler followed with an RBI single to center to make it 3-0.
Tarleton State answered immediately in the top of the third. Pannill started the inning with a single before Mikayla Wilson moved her into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt. Mariah Debose followed with a single to put runners on the corners. Macie Vickers then delivered an RBI single to score Pannill and put the Texans on the board.
Moments later, Duke delivered the game's biggest swing, launching a three-run home run to deep left field to score Debose and Vickers and give the Texans a 4-3 lead.
After both teams traded scoreless innings through the middle frames, Tarleton State added crucial insurance in the top of the seventh. Wilson reached on an error to begin the inning, and Debose followed by reaching on a fielding error by the catcher. After Vickers laid down a sacrifice bunt to move both runners into scoring position, a wild pitch allowed Wilson to score to extend the lead to 5-3.
Later in the inning, Wittram brought home Debose on a bunt fielder's choice to make it 6-3, and Bojkovic followed with an RBI single to short that scored Duke for the Texans' final run of the night.
Shelby Schultz went the distance in the circle to earn the win, tossing a complete game while allowing three runs on nine hits across seven innings.
Tarleton State recorded 10 hits in the nightcap, with Pannill going 3-for-4 and Debose adding a 2-for-4 outing with two runs scored. Bojkovic also collected two hits, while Duke finished with three RBI on the go-ahead homer.
The Texans will continue play on Saturday with back-to-back games against Lehigh (10:30 a.m. CT) and UNC Greensboro (1 p.m. CT) at UNCG Softball Stadium.
