Cold weather can’t slow TexAnn softball heatwave

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SAN ANTONIO – It was cold. It was rainy. It was borderline miserable.

But none of it mattered to the Tarleton TexAnns, who stayed hot by topping No. 22 St. Mary’s 7-2 to close out the St. Mary’s College Classic and improve to 10-0 on the season. The TexAnns were originally scheduled to play the Rattlers and Regis on Sunday, but the coaches mutually agreed to cancel the game to allow Regis to opportunity to begin its journey home.

“I’m really proud of my team,” said Mark Cumpian. “It would have been very easy to just pack up and go home but this group showed a lot of heart and toughness today. They didn’t let outside factors take away from their approach and I’m excited to continue moving forward with this group.”

Tarleton, who has been prone to hitting the long ball, didn’t need a home run ball Sunday to put six runs on the board. The TexAnns got things going with a second-inning rally to start things off with a 3-0 advantage.

Back-to-back singles from Megan Durante and Tanna Huie got things started in the second inning and a wild pitch moved them both into scoring position with nobody out for Karli Herron. The junior from Hot Springs, Arkansas cashed in with an RBI single to left to put Tarleton on the board. Two batters later, Morgan Ling drove in a run on a pop-up sacrifice to right field that allowed Huie to come across. Kaitlyn Thomas capped off the inning with a two-out RBI single to third for a 3-0 lead.

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The Rattlers answered with one on a home run to lead off the second, but the TexAnns had an answer for their answer. Huie ripped an RBI single back up the middle to plate Georgia Capell, who led off the inning by taking a pitch off the leg.

St. Mary’s tacked on one more in the third before Tarleton pulled away with two in the ensuing half-inning.

Clinging to a slim 4-2 lead in the top of the fourth, Megan Durante battled and delivered a two-out, full-count, two-RBI single right on the right-field foul line to extend the lead out to 6-2. Tarleton added one more in the seventh on an RBI single to centerfield from Meghann Wrinkle.

Meanwhile, Jordan Withrow was dealing once again from the circle.

The sophomore fired her second complete game in as many days, allowing two runs on five hits and five walks while striking out 11. Combined with her shutout of Texas Woman’s yesterday, Withrow has struck out 23 batters in her last 14 innings of work.

Thomas sparked the offensive production out of the leadoff spot as the senior went 4-5 with a run scored and an RBI while Marisa Flores sparked the bottom half of the lineup with a 3-3 day at the dish with a run scored.

Wrinkle, Durante, and Huie each boasted two hits while Capell and Herron had one each to round out Tarleton’s 15-hit performance.

The TexAnns will head to Austin on Wednesday for a doubleheader against St. Edward’s before beginning league play next weekend at Texas A&M-Commerce.

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