BEAUMONT, Texas — Lamar University’s softball team found themselves in a 3-0 hole in the sixth inning of their first round matchup against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the Southland Conference Tournament. But they refused to back down and fought back to within 3-2 and a chance to complete the comeback in the seventh. Unfortunately, their rally came up short as AMCC held on for the 3-2 final.
Aaliyah Ruiz conceded three runs on four hits while striking out five batters in seven innings of work. Kaylee Ancelot led LU with two hits while Brooke Davis and Aleka Xayaseng also collected a hit. RBI’s came from Estela Garza and Cameron Niedenthal.
With two outs and a runner on in the Islander first, it was a leadoff pitch to Sydney Hoyt that gave AMCC a 2-0 lead. An error by the Islanders allowed Garza to reach second on a lead-off hit. But Islander starter Aholelei Primrose struck out the side to end LU’s threat. Each pitcher would hold down the other side scoreless as the score stayed 2-0.
The Cardinals managed to get a hit in the fourth on a single by Ancelot, but couldn’t create a rally from that. AMC extended their lead to 3-0 in the sixth inning after a Cardinal error. Finally, in their sixth inning, LU played a run in just three pitches as Aleka Xayaseng led off with a triple and then came home to score on a Garza sacrifice fly.
Bean walked and then Ancelot doubled to put the tying runners in scoring position. A squeeze play off the bat of the Niedenthal cut the deficit to 3-2 with just one-out. But the Islanders held down the next two hitters to keep their one-run deficit.
A one-out single in the last of the seventh by Brooke Davis made her as the tying run while Aleka Xayaseng walked to represent the winning run. A groundout back to the pitcher advanced the runners to scoring position. But the Cardinals’ luck ran out as a strikeout ended the game.
The Cardinals are now in the loser’s bracket and will be playing tomorrow at 6:30 pm.