TWU eliminates Tarleton from softball regional

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Courtesy JEREMY ENLOW/Steel Shutter Photography for Tarleton Athletics

Special to The Flash
TarletonSports.com

STEPHENVILLE (May 13, 2017) – Tarleton’s season came to an end with a 5-2 loss to Texas Woman’s in the NCAA South Central Regional Tournament on Friday at Schaeffer Park.

The TexAnns finished the year 35-22 under first-year head coach Mark Cumpian. It was the fifth NCAA postseason appearance in program history and the first since 2015.

“This team never gave up all season,” said Cumpian. “Even in the regional, they battled until the end. Not many people predicted we would make it this far at the beginning of the season and that shows the fight and resiliency this bunch has. I’m proud of each and every one of them for how they competed and represented Tarleton State University and this community.”

The TexAnns jumped on the board first in the game on an RBI groundout by Savannah Stech that scored Meghann Wrinkle. The TexAnns had two hits in the inning and even the outs were line drives. However, Tarleton managed only four hits the rest of the way and left 10 runners on base.

Texas Woman’s scored a pair of runs in the first and second innings for a 4-1 lead. The Pioneers had Tarleton’s number all season, going 5-0 against the TexAnns.


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Trailing 4-1 in the third inning, the TexAnns had two runners on with two outs but failed to bring the runs home. The fifth inning, the bases were loaded for Tarleton and a fly out ended the inning.

“We were in a tough situation all game being behind in the count,” added Cumpian. “It was a case of good pitching by the other team and a questionable strike zone that we had to battle against. It’s a tough spot for Jordan [Withrow] since she was never able to get comfortable in the circle as she was trying to find the zone all game.”

Tarleton managed a run in the sixth inning as Wrinkle drove home Avery Mullendore on an RBI ground out. Texas Woman’s added a run in the bottom half of the sixth inning to make it 5-2. The TexAnns were retired in order in the top of the seventh to end the game.

Avery Mullendore (2-for-2) and Kadyn Kirkpatrick (2-for-3) each had multi-hit games to lead the TexAnns offensively. Nyka Wood and Savannah Stech rounded out the TexAnn offense with hits.

 

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