Tarleton softball off to record-setting start

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Special to The Flash Today

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DURANT, Okla. – Tarleton put up 23 more runs over its final two games of the Southeastern Oklahoma Regional Invitational to sweep its season-opening tournament trip and start the season 6-0 for the third time in school history.

Tarleton’s 6-0 start matches the most consecutive victories to begin a season in program history.

“I’m very proud of how we played this weekend,” said head coach Mark Cumpian. “We came out a little sluggish in the first game today but we found a way to win after making a few miscues. I was proud of how we responded in the second game.

“We played great in all three phases of the game this weekend and that’s a big reason for the 6-0 start,” he added. “We will get some good competition next week in San Antonio so we will need to get back home and have a good week of practice.”

 

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Game 1: Tarleton 10, East Central 6

Even though it was the first game of the season in which Tarleton didn’t have a home run, it didn’t stop the TexAnns from putting up a 10 spot and knocking off East Central 10-6 in a morning showdown in Durant.

Jordan Withrow got the start and went the distance yet again while striking out seven. The sophomore right-hander now has 20 strikeouts in her two starts this season. She allowed six runs – five earned – and nine hits on her way to a 2-0 record.

After the Tigers got on the board first with a pair in the opening frame, Tarleton answered right back in their half of the second inning when Nyka Wood ripped off a two-RBI single to plate Morgan Ling and Karli Herron for an even score. The 2-2 game would hold up until the fourth when Tarleton took the lead on a two-run single up the middle by Georgia Capell and a wild pitch to give the TexAnns a 5-2 lead.

Tarleton put up four more in the sixth. The first run of the inning came across from another RBI by Capell then Tanna Huie came up with a two-run triple before Marisa Flores closed out the scoring in the inning with an RBI single to put Tarleton up 9-2.

East Central answered with its own four spot in the bottom of the sixth to pull within 9-6, but the TexAnns tacked on an insurance run with Capell’s fourth RBI of the game in the seventh to extend the lead back out to four. Withrow worked around a leadoff single and ended the game with back-to-back strikeouts to close things out.

Tarleton had five players with two-hit performances – Kaitlyn Thomas, Meghann Wrinkle, Wood, Huie, and Flores – while Capell and Megan Durante had one hit each to round out Tarleton’s 12-hit effort for the game.

 

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Game 2: Tarleton 13, Southeastern Oklahoma 1 (5)

The TexAnns had eight different players drive in at least one run, led by a three-RBI swing from newcomer Kloe Corbin off the bench, to pound tournament host Southeastern Oklahoma 13-1 in five innings to close out the tournament.

Maddie Quintanar sparked the offense right off the bat by leading off the game with a walk and a stolen base. The sophomore eventually came around to get the TexAnns on the board following a sacrifice fly from Nyka Wood in the first.

After a scoreless second, the offense started scoring at will.

Singles from Ling and Wrinkle plated a run with the help of a Storm error with one out and then the flood gates opened. After a Wood walk, Capell drove home Wrinkle with an RBI single and then Destiny Crumpley allowed Wood to cross with an RBI double. Huie followed up with a walk before Karli Herron drove home a pair with a bases-loaded, two-RBI double to right center that chased the Southeastern starter.

Flores welcomed the new pitcher to the game with an RBI single to left before Ling and Wrinkle finished what they started with an RBI double and a two-RBI single, respectively, to put the TexAnns on top 10-1 after three.

Tarleton added three more in the fifth when Kloe Corbin went yard in her second career at bat to plate three more runs and extend the lead to 13-0. Southeastern scored one in the fifth, but it wasn’t enough to keep the game alive.

Corbin led the way with three RBI in a 1-1 day at the plate while Wrinkle and Herron each drove in two. Wood, Capell, Crumpley, Flores, and Ling each had one RBI for the day. Wrinkle, Capell, and Ling each boasted two-hit performances while Corbin, Crumpley, Herron, Flores, Kady Crow, and Elizabeth Svienty rounded out the 12-hit performance from the offense.

While the offense was doing work at the dish, Megan Rosewell was well on her way to her second win as a TexAnn with five innings of six-hit softball. She allowed one run and struck out two for the game.

Tarleton eyes a new school record with its next game as the TexAnns will square off with Fort Hays State in search of their seventh straight win to begin a season on Friday at 2:30 p.m. in San Antonio.

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