Photo GalleryHOUSTON – Senior infielder
Victoria Granchelli hit a three-run blast to center field to give HBU a 4-3 lead through one inning. That lead lasted through four innings, but Abilene Christian scored five unanswered to defeat the Huskies, 8-4, Saturday afternoon from Husky Field.
Nicole Shedd went 2-for-3 with a run to lead HBU (13-32 overall, 5-20 SLC), while five other Huskies each recorded a hit. V. Granchelli led all players with three RBIs.
Libby Brown went 0-for-1 in the game, ending her seven-game hitting streak.
Emily Mueller (1-9) took the loss in the circle, as she allowed 10 hits, eight runs, and three walks with three strikeouts.
The top three hitters in the lineup did the most damage for ACU (14-33, 8-19), as the trio of Taylor Brown, Peyton Hedrick, and Brianna Barnhill combined to go 5-for-10 with three RBIs and five runs. Emily Seidel (6-22) not only earned the win in the circle, but helped her own cause, hitting a two-run single in the top of the seventh. Seidel allowed seven hits, four runs, and three walks while whiffing four.
It was a busy first inning as seven of the game's 12 runs occurred in that frame. Brown led off the ACU half of the first with a walk, then was caught stealing. That proved important, as the next batter, Hedrick, hit a double to center. Barnhill followed with her own double that allowed Hedrick to score and give the Wildcats a 1-0 lead. An RBI groundout by Kaleigh Lightsey and an infield single by Baylee Travers completed the scoring.
HBU answered right back, as
Shay Orsak led off the inning with a walk. She advanced to second on Brown's sac bunt, then to third on Shedd's single. Senior
Melissa Herman's sacrifice fly to left allowed
Shay Orsak to score from third.
Madison Vonhagel singled to left to place runners on the corners for V. Granchelli, who cleared the bases with her third home run of the season.
The score remained that way until the top of the fifth, as Mueller settled down and got the Wildcats down in order in the second, third, and fourth innings.
In the fifth, pinch hitter Alyson Bischoff led off the inning with a single and was replaced on the bases by original starter, Melissa Rodriguez. A groundout put Rodriguez at second and she later scored on Hedrick's RBI single to tie the game at four-all. With the bases loaded, Holly Neese's RBI single to left allowed Brown to score the eventual winning run.
HBU had a chance, down by one, in the bottom of the fifth.
Kay Schroeder drew a lead-off walk.
Michaela Granchelli hit a ball that looked like it was going to hit the gap between infielder and outfielder in left field, but ACU shortstop, Hedrick, made a spectacular diving catch for the first out. The Wildcats then got a strikeout and a flyout to end the threat.
ACU scored three times in the top of the seventh to give itself some breathing room, highlighted by a two-run single by Seidel.
