HOUSTON, Texas --- In the immortal words of the Macho Man Randy Savage ... "Oooooooooh YEEEEEAH !!!!"
If you're going to play extra innings you might as well walk it off.
And if you are going to walk it off … you might as well send everyone home in grand fashion.
Haylie Savage ended an extra-inning pitcher's duel by launching a no-doubt grand slam home run to straightaway center with one out in the bottom of the 10
th inning, sending Husky Field into a massive frenzy as Houston Christian University claimed a 5-1 victory over Nicholls State University on Saturday afternoon at Husky Field.
The slam capped off the first Southland series win of the season for the Huskies, and made a winner of senior hurler
Lyndie Swanson, who spun a 10-inning masterpiece for her second brilliant victory of the weekend.
The Huskies got on the board in the second inning, as Savage mashed a ball to center field for a leadoff double.
Maddy Bailey then lined a single to right field to bring her in to give HCU a 1-0 lead.
Nicholls would knot things up in the bottom of the fifth. Gabby Higbee laced a double to left field and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Riley Rutherford. Higbee would then cross the dish when pinch-hitter Alexa Poche' lofted a sacrifice fly to left, tying the game at one apiece.
From there, it was all pitching, as Swanson and Nicholls reliever Averi Paden locked up in a duel. Swanson, who had allowed just three hits until the two in the Nicholls fifth, would then just allow two the remaining five innings. Paden meanwhile, was locked in as well, retiring 12 of the first 14 she faced after entering in the fourth frame.
Nicholls would put two on in the top of the eighth inning with two out, but could push nothing across. Likewise, HCU put two on with two out in the bottom of the same stanza, with nothing doing.
Swanson continued to keep the Nicholls bats in check until the final inning, when she set down the heart of the visitor's lineup in order.
The 10
th inning got off to a solid start as
AB Garcia beat out an infield single.
Juls Garcia reached on a fielder's choice to erase
AB Garcia before consecutive singles by
Jasie Roberts and
Kaicey Hagler to almost the exact same spot through the left side.
Up stepped Savage, who after seeing a first pitch ball and fouling off a pitch, cranked a deep drive to centerfield much to the delight of a raucous and capacity Husky Field crowd. The bomb was the sixth homer of the season for Savage, setting off a mob at home plate as the Huskies won their first conference series of the season.
Swanson was marvelous in the circle for the second straight afternoon. After tossing 85 pitches to earn her 14
th career shutout on Friday, Swanson was even more impressive in the Saturday finale. She went 10 innings, tossing 121 pitches while scattering seven hits and just the lone run. She had just one free pass on the day, while fanning three to even her record at 6-6 on the season.
The senior from Katy pitched 17 total innings on the weekend, giving up 13 hits and one run with just three walks. It was the fourth time in Swanson's career that she has earned an extra-inning complete game victory, and the first time to go the double-digit distance. She is now just 11 strikeouts away from the Top 10 all-time, and needs five more appearances to become the career leader in outings in the circle.
Kaicey Hagler led the 12-hit attack for HCU as she matched a career-high with her second three-hit game in the last two weeks. Savage was won of three players with two hits, along with
AB Garcia and
Jasie Roberts. Savage had her sixth homer of the season and became the first HCU player to go over 20 RBI on the year.
Audrey McNeil went the first three innings for Nicholls (23-19, 10-5 SLC), allowing four hits and one run before giving way to Paden, who was brilliant in her own right, going six straight scoreless innings of relief before the fateful 10
th frame. She scattered eight hits and fanned one in dropping to 7-3 overall.
Claire Sisco and Gabby Higbee each had two hits for the Colonels.
HCU wins its first conference series of the year to improve to 17-20 overall and 4-11 in conference play. The Huskies will play their final non-conference tilt of the campaign on Tuesday, when they play former Southland foe Sam Houston State University. First pitch for the mid-week affair is slated for 5 pm at Husky Field.
#DawgsUp
