CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – HBU softball's comeback effort fell just short in game one and they could not hold an early lead in game two, as Texas A&M-Corpus Christi swept the Huskies in a Southland Conference doubleheader, 4-3 and 4-1, Friday afternoon from Chapman Field.
TAMUCC took advantage of a Huskies' fielding error to score the game's first run in game one. Mackinzee Griebel led off the bottom of the third with a single to left. After advancing to second on a sacrifice bunt, Griebel scored from second following an HBU error. The Islanders later loaded the bases, looking for more, but
Shannon O'Connor and the Huskies got Hayley Galloway to fly out to end the inning without further damage.
The Islanders put a three-spot in the bottom of the fifth to increase their lead to 4-0. All the runs were unearned as the Huskies had two errors in the inning.
HBU got one of the runs back in the top of the sixth, as
Victoria Granchelli led off the inning with a single to center. After advancing to second on a
Nicole Shedd sacrifice bunt, Granchelli scored on an RBI single by
Melissa Herman.
The Huskies continued to battle hard going into the seventh, as
Libby Brown started things off with a single up the middle. She advanced to second on a groundout and would score on an RBI triple by
Laci Belovsky. Belovsky crossed home on
Caitlin Gunn's sacrifice fly, making the score 4-3 in favor of the Islanders and the top of the order up for the Huskies. But TAMUCC got a groundout to end the game.
V. Granchelli and Brown each went 2-for-3 for HBU, while Herman, Belovsky, and Gunn each recorded an RBI. O'Connor (3-8) took the loss in the complete-game effort in the circle, as she allowed 10 hits, four unearned runs, and one walk with two strikeouts.
Mickayla Cochran paced TAMUCC with three hits in four at-bats, while pitcher Liz Carter helped her own cause with two RBIs. Carter (10-15) allowed seven hits, three runs, and two walks with three strikeouts in a complete-game effort.
HBU drew first blood in game two, as it was aggressive early.
Shay Orsak hit a lead-off single down the left-field line and eventually scored on a sacrifice fly by Shedd.
Victoria Granchelli, whose single brought Orsak to third, advanced to second on the throw home. Stephanie Flores and the Islanders settled down and got a fly out and a foul out to end the inning.
The lead was short-lived, however, as TAMUCC used back-to-back two-out RBI singles by Carter and Brittney Morse in the bottom half of the inning to take a 2-1 lead.
The Islanders increased their lead to 4-1 with a pair of third-inning runs. Jessica Mendez led off the inning by reaching base on an error and eventually scored on an RBI single by Morse. Two batters later, Lindsey Lyles' RBI single scored Morse. The Huskies were unable to get any runs across the rest of the way despite a two-out walk in the fourth and a one-out hit by pitch in the fifth.
Orsak, V. Granchelli, and
Cecilia Bauer each had a hit for HBU. Shedd had the Huskies' lone RBI. Belovsky (7-11) took the loss in the circle, as she allowed nine hits, four runs (three earned), and one walk with three strikeouts in the complete-game effort.
Morse went 3-for-3 with two RBIs and a run scored to lead the Islanders. Flores (4-7) also went the distance and allowed three hits, one run, and one walk with three Ks.
HBU (10-27 overall, 4-15 SLC) and TAMUCC (15-24-1, 10-10) conclude the series Saturday at noon.
