HOUSTON — HCU took a 3-1 lead into the seventh inning, but Lamar rallied for three runs to snag a second walk-off win of the weekend, defeating the Huskies 4-3 in the rubber game of the series at LU Softball Complex.
HCU right-hander
Ronni Grofman allowed just one hit heading into the sixth, but Lamar put up a single run in that frame to pull within two, before the four-hit, three-run outburst in their final time at bat.
Kaicey Hagler got the Huskies on the board int he third with an RBI double to left center that scored
Riley Martin.
HCU would add two more in the sixth.
Jasie Roberts led off with a single and moved to second on a fielder's choice by Grofman.
Breana Herrera then reached on an error that allowed Roberts to score from second and give the visitors a 2-0 lead.
Martin would then walk to load the bases, and
Avery Drake followed her with a free pass that scored Grofman for a 3-0 cushion.
Cameron Neidenthal cracked the scoring column for the home team in the sixth, doubling home Estella Garza to cut the HCU lead to two, 3-1.
In the seventh, the Cards finally broke through big, stringing together four singles for the game-deciding crooked number. Hayley Freudenberg singled home Audrey Fleming to pull Lamar to within one, and moments later, Garza singled to center field to drive home the pinch-running Xayaseng sisters with the final tallies of the game and weekend.
Grofman falls to 5-3 on the season, going 6.1 innings and alllowing seven hits and four runs while striking out two and fanning a career-best eight batters.
Hagler was 2-4 with an RBI, and
Haylie Savage and
Jasie Roberts each went 2-4 as well.
Garza, went 3-4, including the game-winning two-run single. Aaliyah Ruiz (6-10) picked up the win, going the distance and allowing three runs on six hits with three walks and three K's for Lamar, now 14-31 and 7-11 in SLC play.
HCU falls to 20-24 overall, and 9-9 in Southland action.
FINAL NOTES AND WHAT'S UP NEXT:
With just two Southland series remaining in the regular season, the Huskies are still deadlocked in a three-way tie for third place.
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Northwestern State are also both 9-9 in the conference race after TAMUCC salvaged the series finale in Natchitoches on Saturday afternoon.
The Huskies will be in action again next weekend, traveling to Thibodaux, Louisiana to take on Nicholls. The Colonels dropped two of three at Southeastern this weekend.
At 10-11, the Colonels sit just behind that trio, having played one more series than all three. The series with HCU represents the final regular season games for Nicholls.
Nicholls leads the all-time series with HCU 20-7, but the Huskies have won four of the last five with the Colonels, including two of three at Husky Field last season.
#DawgsUp
