Wildcats still alive in regional

ACU blasts four home runs in 6-3 win over Regis

SAN ANTONIO – The best season in the short history of the ACU softball program came to an end Friday night with a 4-0 loss in a loser’s bracket elimination game of the NCAA Division II South Central Region tournament at Rattler Field on the campus of St. Mary’s University.

The Wildcats – who stayed alive in the tournament earlier Friday morning with a 6-3 elimination-game win over Regis – finish their season at 31-22.  Under second-year head coach Chantiel Wilson, ACU was making its first-ever appearance in the regional tournament after recording the program’s first winning season since 1998.

The Wildcats set a single-season record for conference wins (13) and finished second in the Lone Star Conference South Division after being picked to finish fourth, the win over Regis was the program’s first NCAA post-season victory.

“I’m so proud of these girls and the way they worked all year,” Wilson said.  “We came down here with nothing to lose because nobody expected anything of us as the No. 6 seed.  But we gave (defending national champion) a run for their money before we lost (8-7), and then we won a game down here.  We just couldn’t get our bats working tonight and that cost us.”

The Bronchos jumped on ACU with three runs in the first inning, and that’s all they would need.  With two outs, Jody Craig blasted a two-run home run to left field, and Danielle Blackwell followed with a solo blast to make it 3-0.

The Wildcats never could get their offense going as they managed just three hits on the night.  The key to the game was UCO’s ability to keep the top of the Wildcats’ order in check.  In the first two games of the tournament, Katie Bryan, Kristin Alvarado and Jade Wilson were a combined 8 for 22 with five home runs.  In Friday’s loss, that trio was 1 for 6.

“You have to give a lot of credit to Central Oklahoma’s pitching staff,” Wilson said.  “We didn’t really see the ball well, and they kept us off balance.  And when we don’t get our bats going early, we start putting pressure on ourselves to hit a home run or have one person do everything themselves.”

After UCO starting pitcher Nicole Breeding pitched the first four innings, UCO’s No. 1 pitcher, Allie Blake, came on in relief and she was lights out.  She struck out the first four batters she faced and retired all nine batters she faced in order to end the game.

In Friday’s first game, ACU rode the power hitting of Wilson and Bryan and the strong right arm of pitcher Jennifer Leal to the win over the Rangers.  Wilson and Bryan each hit a pair of home runs, while Leal picked up her 22nd win of the season with a complete-game effort.

Wilson had a solo home run in the first inning, and then she and Bryan each hit solo home runs in the third inning to give ACU a 3-2 lead.  That lead grew to 5-2 in the fifth inning when Ashley Whittenberg and Daisy Barcena each delivered clutch two-out RBI singles.

Leal then had to work out of her only jam of the game in the sixth when the Rangers put runners at second and third with one out after a sacrifice bunt to move them into scoring position.  But she got Mariah Piper to fly out to leftfielder Danielle Faulk for the second out, and Faulk's strong throw to the plate kept the runners from advancing.  She then got Amy Tarnoff to end the inning when  Barcena made a nice over-the-shoulder catch in shallow center field for the third out.

ACU added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth on Bryan's 18th home run of the season.  Regis got a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh, but that was all Leal would allow as she struck out a pair of Rangers in the final frame.  Leal allowed just five hits and struck out five to improve 22-12 on the season.