Freyman shuts down vaunted WTAMU in series opener

Haley Freyman shut out the No. 3 offense in the nation Friday, leading the TexAnns to a 1-0 win at Tarleton Softball Complex. || Courtesy Tarleton Athletics

Special to The Flash
TarletonSports.com

STEPHENVILLE (March 3, 2017) – Go ahead. Pick a headliner.

How about Meghann Wrinkle‘s speed beating out an infield single with two outs in the bottom of the seventh to keep the game alive?

How about Maddie Quintanar fighting off several Kilee Halbert pitches with two strikes before dropping a single into left field with two outs in the seventh?

How about Alyssa Ringhausen stepping off the bench and delivering a two-out RBI single up the middle to celebrate her 22^ndbirthday?

Or how about Haley Freyman‘s completely masterful performance of the nation’s third-highest hitting offensive unit?

The list could go on but the moral of the story is: Tarleton walked off a winner in the opening game of their series with No. 6 West Texas A&M Friday night.

“Tonight was a total team effort,” said head coach Mark Cumpian. “We were focused from start to finish and I’m proud of how we competed. Haley kept WT off balance all night long and Alyssa came through with a huge hit on her birthday.”

The game sailed along over the first three innings as WT stranded a pair of runners in the first inning only to be matched by a pair of stranded TexAnns in the third. Freyman ran into some trouble in the fourth after WT loaded the bases with one out, but the junior right-hander struck out back-to-back Lady Buffs to end the threat and leave the bases full.

Tarleton had its chance in the fifth when three straight two-out singles from Marisa Flores, Meghann Wrinkle, and Maddie Quintanar loaded the bags but Tarleton was unable to cash in and the game went to the sixth scoreless.

Freyman sat down the Lady Buffs in order over the next two innings and extra innings appeared inevitable when the first two TexAnns were retired in the bottom of the seventh before Wrinkle showed her speed.

The junior outfielder beat out an infield base hit to extend the game before Quintanar fought off pitch-after-pitch before looping a single into left field for runners on first and second with two away and pinch-hitter Alyssa Ringhausen stepping in the box.

The birthday girl delivered with an RBI single back up the middle and Wrinkle came around to score from second as Tarleton celebrated its second consecutive walk-off victory over a national top-10 opponent.

Tarleton outhit the Lady Buffs 7-4 with Wrinkle accounting for three on a 3-for-3 night. Quintanar went 2-for-3 at the dish while Ringhausen and Flores accounted for the other two base hits.

Freyman was immaculate in the circle as the junior from North Richland Hills, alongside her longtime battery mate Nyka Wood, dealt a four-hit shutout with no walks and six strikeouts for her seventh win of the season.

Tarleton and West Texas A&M are in a doubleheader at 11 a.m. Saturday.