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WIN AND ADVANCE
SLU Athletics / Samuel Conners
7
Winner HCU HCU 23-25
2
A&M-Corpus Christi AMCC 21-22
Winner
HCU HCU
23-25
7
Final
2
A&M-Corpus Christi AMCC
21-22
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
HCU HCU 0 0 0 0 0 2 5 7 10 2
A&M-Corpus Christi AMCC 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 5 1

W: Swanson, Lyndie (10-7) L: Aholelei, Primrose (15-11)

Game Recap: Softball |

SB: Huskies erupt in final two innings, rally past TAMUCC to advance in SLC Tournament

Huskies advance to Gm 3 on Tuesday evening against Nicholls



HAMMOND, Louisiana --- Houston Christian University scored seven runs in its final two at-bats to rally past Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Tuesday afternoon in an elimination opener at the Southland Conference Tournament.

The seventh-seeded Huskies trailed 2-0 heading to the sixth, but tied things up in that frame before erupting with a five-spot in the seventh inning to defeat the rival and sixth-seeded Islanders. The victory moves HCU into a Tuesday night tilt against third-seeded Nicholls.

FIRST PITCH FOR HCU vs. NICHOLLS --- 7:45 pm

The two teams went back and forth through three innings of goose eggs before anyone dented the scoreboard. A leadoff walk to TAMUCC's Sydney Hoyt got the bottom of the fourth started. Pinch-runner Erin Villela moved to third following a single by Monee Montilla.
 
The Islanders then got a squeeze bunt by Paolina Baez to score Villela for the games first run, and with two outs, Montilla scored when pinch-hitter Rhea-Ann Avalos reached on a bunt single, giving Corpus a 2-0 lead through four.
 
Lyndie Swanson came on in relief of Ronni Grofman in the bottom of the fifth, and held the Islanders in check. The Huskies then turned around in the top of the inning and mounted a rally.
 
A leadoff bunt single by AB Garcia was followed by a cue-shot by Haylie Savage. Her base knock landed in short left field then squirted towards foul territory giving her a double and putting runners on second and third.
 
 Jasie Roberts then followed with a sacrifice fly to score Garcia and get the Huskies on the board.
 
After Kaicey Hagler walked, Maddy Bailey calmly pushed a single into center field to score Savage, and tie things up at two apiece. Jackie Jessup followed with a single to load the bases, but that would be all as a sharp liner by Tabitha Burnett was snared at second to end the rally.
 
Swanson worked around a leadoff walk in the bottom of the sixth, and again held the Islanders at bay and send the game to the seventh still tied at two.
 
HCU would then break through. A leadoff triple by Juls Garcia to left was followed by an AB Garcia walk and stolen base to put runners on second and third with no outs. Haylie Savage then came through with a blast to left center, scoring both runners to give HCU its first lead of the day, 4-2.
 
Savage 2B - SLC     AB RUN
(Haylie Savage launches her go-ahead two-run double to chase home both Garcia's in the 7th - Photo by Sam Connors/SLU)

Three more runs would come across in the frame, as the Huskies took advantage of some miscues. An errant throw home on a fielder's choice by Jackie Jessup allowed Roberts to score. Pinch-hitter Riley Martin then grounded out to second to score Kaicey Hagler and give HCU a 6-2 lead. Maddy Bailey then scored on what was ruled a wild pitch, giving HCU a 7-2 lead heading to the bottom of the seventh.
 
The Islanders would get their leadoff hitter on base to start the seventh, as Alina Jasso reached on an error. Swanson then struck out Kimane Rogron before inducing a ground ball to third off the bat of Teniece Tyson. Tabitha Burnett made a spectacular stab, the began and around the horn double play finished off by a splendid scoop at first by Jackie Jessup to finish off the contest.
 
Savage led a 10-hit offense by going 3-4 with two doubles, a run scored and the go-ahead two RBI in the seventh. She also stole a base to round out her second straight three-hit game, the fourth such of the season. It was the 11th multi-hit game and ninth multi-RBI game for the junior, who was named to All-Southland for the third straight season on Monday afternoon.
 
Juls Garcia went 2-4 with a triple and run scored, while AB Garcia was 1-3 with two runs scored and a stolen base. Jasie Roberts and Maddy Bailey each had a hit and RBI for the Huskies.
 
Starting pitcher Ronni Grofman battled through four innings on the hot afternoon, allowing just four hits and two runs, only one of which was earned, while walking three and fanning four before giving way to Swanson, who finished off the final three innings allowing one hit and one walk. The victory set a new single-season mark for the senior from Katy, as she improves to 10-7 on the season by winning her 40th career game.  The outing also pushed her into first place all-time in appearances at HCU with 115 for her career.
 
TAMUCC managed just five hits on the afternoon, with Kimane Rogron going 2-3 to pace the offense. Primrose Aholelei (15-11) was saddled with the loss, giving up nine hits and four earned runs while striking out nine. With the loss, the Islanders are eliminated from the tournament, finishing their season at 21-22 overall.

HCU, now 23-25 overall, will return to play again later on Tuesday evening when it faces third-seeded Nicholls. First pitch is tentatively scheduled for 6 pm. The Huskies took two of three from Nicholls at Husky Field in April, splitting the Friday doubleheader before Haylie Savage's dramatic walk-off grand slam in the 10th inning on Saturday handed HCU at 5-1 victory.
 
#DawgsUp
 
 
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