April 29, 2005

Final Stats

IRVING, Texas - Hardin-Simmons won a pair of games, including a dramatic come-from-behind 4-3 win over Louisiana College to advance to the finals of the American Southwest Conference Tournament at Southwest Park in Irving.

The Cowgirls trailed 3-2 in the seventh inning, but rallied for two runs to take the lead. Nicole Cortez reached on an error and Courtney Stewart walked. After a popup and a groundout the Cowgirls were down to the last out. Freshman Lydia Bradley then hit a two-run single up the middle. The Wildcats went down 1-2-3 in the seventh.

Louisiana College scored three runs on five hits in the fourth inning to take a 3-2 lead. The Cowgirls had moved ahead 2-0 in the top of the fourth on a Cortez RBI single through the left side, scoring Katy Chester who had led off with a single. The Cowgirls scored a run in th second when Emily Schlebach had an RBI single with two outs.

In the first game, Hardin-Simmons had three RBI singles by three different freshmen and pitcher Arin Spence threw a complete-game shutout as the Cowgirl softball team advanced in the American Southwest Conference Tournament with a 3-0 win over Texas Lutheran.

Spence worked out of bases loaded jams in the second, fourth and fifth innings. She improved to 21-3 on the year in the circle.

The Cowgirls got on the board early with a pair of runs in the first inning. Sadye Hill and Lydia Bradley had run-scoring singles. Jennifer Cooper had an RBI single in the sixth.

Spence won both games in the circle for the Cowgirls. She improved to 22-3 on the year and pushed the Cowgirls into the finals in just their second year of existence. HSU will have to be beaten twice by whoever comes through the loser's bracket. The winner would earn an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.