Freyman’s one-hitter ushers in Cumpian era of Tarleton softball

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Haley Freyman fired a complete game, one-hit shutout Friday to begin the 2017 Tarleton softball season. || Photo courtesy Tarleton Athletic Communications
Special to The Flash
TheFlashToday.com
MAGNOLIA, Ark. (February 3, 2017) – There aren’t too many better debuts for a first-year head coach than the one had by Mark Cumpian at Dawson Field Friday as Tarleton defeated Washburn and Newman on the strength of stellar pitching performances, including a one-hit shutout by Haley Freyman over Washburn.

“Our pitchers did an awesome job today,” said head coach Mark Cumpian. “Offensively, we struggled a little bit early in each of the games but we got it going in the middle innings. I’m proud of the way these girls came out and played with energy.”

Game 1: Tarleton 5, Washburn 0
Haley Freyman picked up right where she left off as a first-team All-Lone Star Conference selection last year as the junior right-hander hurled her fourth career complete game shutout to lead Tarleton past Washburn 5-0.

Freyman was in complete control from the get-go as the junior allowed only two baserunners, neither with a base hit, over the first five innings of the game. She allowed her only base hit of the ball game to lead off the sixth inning before six of the next seven hitters to cap off the shutout.

She walked one and struck out four, forcing 12 ground ball outs along the way.

Meanwhile, her offense provided one run in the third on a Mikayla Stogsdill RBI single and one more in the sixth on an RBI single by Avery Mullendore that plated Savannah Stech, who led off the inning with a double.

Tarleton tacked on three runs of insurance in the seventh with an RBI double from Kaitlyn Thomas, who returned to the field for the first time since the 2015 Super Regional Series after missing last year with an injury, and a two-run single into left field by Nyka Wood for the fourth and fifth runs of the game.

Wood finished the day 2-for-3 at the plate, joined with two hits by Avery Mullendore and Maddie Quintanar. Stogsdill, Thomas, Stech, and Meghann Wrinkle each had one base hit to round out the 10-hit performance from Tarleton.

Game 2: Tarleton 5, Newman 3
Tarleton kept things rolling by holding on to a 5-3 win over Heartland conference foe, Newman to improve to 2-0 on the young season.

The TexAnns got the scoring started in the third inning with an RBI fielder’s choice from Amanda Conner to plate Quintanar, who started both games in the leadoff spot in her collegiate debut.

Tarleton pulled away in the fifth inning when Thomas and Quintanar went to work on the base paths. The TexAnn tandem pulled off a double steal, on which Quintanar swiped home for a 2-0 Tarleton lead. Two batters later, Thomas came in to score on a Wood sacrifice fly before a Newman error allowed another run to come across and extend the Tarleton lead to 4-0.

Newman tacked on one in the bottom of the fifth before Tarleton answered with one of their own on an error in the sixth. The Jets scored their final two runs of the game in the sixth inning before Freyman came on to get the final out of the sixth inning and close out the seventh for her first save of the season.

Jordan Withrow earned the victory from the circle in her Tarleton debut as the true freshman from Trenton tossed 5.2 innings, allowing three runs – two earned – on six hits while striking out six. Freyman struck out one and allowed one hit in her save.

Quintanar went 3-for-4 with three runs scored in her second college outing while Thomas went 2-for-4 with a run scored. Stech, Conner, and Elizabeth Schiele added one hit each as well.

Tarleton will return to action Saturday with a 2:30 p.m. rematch against Washburn and a 5 p.m. showdown with the tournament host No. 5 Southern Arkansas Muleriders.


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