MONROE, La. – HCU softball split a pair of games on Saturday at the ULM Best on the Bayou Classic, first beating Lindenwood, 7-0, before dropping a heartbreaker in extra innings to Western Michigan, 3-2.
Game 1
The Huskies (2-1) got the scoring started in the bottom of the second with
Autumn Sydlik leading off with a single followed by consecutive walks to
Kaicey Hagler and
Ronni Grofman to load the bases with nobody out.
Hadlee Tomczak drew a walk to bring home the first run of the inning followed by an
AB Garcia single to center to score Hagler and move everyone up a base. Two batters later, with one out, Maggie Child singled home a third run to stake HCU to a 3-0 lead.
Sydlik led off the third with a single to right before advancing to second on a wild pitch. Hagler singled to put runners on first and third with Grofman singling to bring Sydlik home and make it a 4-0 game. In the fourth, Childs led things off by reaching on an error and then advanced on a groundout before moving up to third on a
Jasie Roberts single. Roberts stole second before Sydlik recorded her third hit of the game and singled home Childs.
Mackenzie Morris came up next, doubling to score Roberts and advance Sydlik to third. Sydlik scored on the next at bat, a groundout to short off the bat of Breanna Herrera.
In the circle,
Katy Janes was dominant with just two singles allowed while striking out six and walking just one.
Game 2
In game two versus Western Michigan, the Huskies threatened in the top of the first when
Avery Drake reached on a wild pitch strikeout before stealing second and advancing to third on an error. With a runner on third and nobody out, HCU hitters popped out, flied out and grounded out to end the inning.
The game remained knotted at 0-0 until the sixth when Sydlik drove a home run to left to put HCU ahead 1-0. In the top of the seventh, Drake singled with two out and then stole second. Childs then came up with a clutch single to right on a 1-2 count to score Drake from second for a two-run advantage.
In the seventh, the Broncos finally got to HCU starter Grofman. A leadoff walk was followed by a strikeout before three consecutive singles brought home two runs to even the score.
Lyndie Swanson then came on in relief and finished the inning with a pop out and strikeout to send the game into the eighth. The Huskies stranded a runner in the top of the eighth.
Courtney Farrish led off the bottom half of the eighth with a double followed by a single from Haley Boxwell. Cassidy Brendtke lifted a fly ball to left that was dropped with pinch runner Natalie Shuey scoring from third.
Grofman went 6 1/3 in the circle, allowing two earned runs on six hits with five punchouts and a pair of walks. Swanson was tagged with the loss in relief, falling to 1-1 on the young season.
Sydlik finished the day going 5-for-8 at the plate with four runs scored and two RBI with a home run. Garcia went 5-for-7 at the plate and recorded three stolen bases while Drake also had three steals across the two games.
The Huskies wrap up the Best on the Bayou Classic with a doubleheader against the hosts, facing ULM at 11:30 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. on Sunday.
