Special to The Flash
TarletonSports.com
STEPHENVILLE (April 22, 2017) – After 17 innings of softball spread over six and a half hours Saturday afternoon, Tarleton walked off a winner in the finale to take two of three from Midwestern State and delivering a happy home finale for the four TexAnn seniors.
“I was proud of the way we found a way to win today,” said head coach Mark Cumpian. “Jordan Withrow was great in the third game of the series and Marisa Flores gave us a big hit when we needed it. We didn’t play our best, but we found a way to win the series. It was also nice to get the win for our seniors. These four have been great ambassadors for our program since their first day on campus and I wish them nothing but success in the future.”
Haley Freyman tied Hall of Famer Carla Geeslin for the most pitching victories all-time Saturday afternoon and had to do it stretched over two days. The TexAnns picked up where rain halted last night’s game and took the opener 2-0 behind Freyman’s 62nd career win.
The junior right-hander threw all seven innings of the series opener, allowing just six hits and two walks while striking out three. In Saturday’s resumption of the game, she danced out of danger in all three of her final innings of work, stranding five runners on base over the last three frames to earn her historic victory.
Meanwhile, the offense scored two runs Friday night on a Midwestern State error, which was enough for Freyman. Kaitlyn Thomas was 3-for-3 with a run scored while Nyka Wood added two hits and Meghan Wrinkle rounded out the offense with one hit.
Runs continued to be tough to come by for Tarleton as the TexAnns fell 4-1 in the second game of the series.
Kayleigh Williams got the starting nod in the circle and pitched the first 4.1 innings of work. The junior took the tough-luck loss despite allowing only two earned runs – three total. She gave way to Freyman out of the bullpen for the final 2.2 innings.
Midwestern scored two in the second, one in the fifth, and one more in the seventh while the TexAnns managed one in the third on an error before leaving the bases loaded. Tarleton got two hits each from Thomas and Megan Durante, as well as one each from Wood and Avery Mullendore.
In search of a series win to keep pace in the regional rankings, Jordan Withrow stepped up and delivered a gem as the freshman right-hander tossed a two-hit shutout to earn the win after a Marissa Flores walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh.
Withrow was dealing from the get-go as Midwestern State managed only two baserunners over the first six innings. The Mustangs’ best rally came in the seventh with a lead-off walk and a two-out single, but Withrow got a pop up to Nyka Wood behind the dish to keep Midwestern State off the board for the seventh straight frame.
Maddie Quintanar answered offensively by leading off the seventh with a single and moving over the second on a sacrifice bunt from Thomas. The Flores delivered on a two-strike pitch, which she lifted into left field to plate Quintanar for the walk-off victory.
Flores led the way offensively with three hits on the day while Quintanar added two of her own. Thomas, Savannah Stech, and Mullendore each had one hit to round out the offense.
After the game, Tarleton recognized its four seniors – Stech, Mullendore, Alyssa Ringhausen, and Mikayla Stogsdill – for their dedication to the Tarleton Softball program.
Tarleton will head to Odessa next weekend to close out the regular season with a three-game series against UT Permian Basin, beginning Friday at 6 p.m.
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