Special to The Flash
TarletonSports.com
STEPHENVILLE – Pitching dominated the afternoon as Tarleton swept a doubleheader from No. 22 Lubbock Christian Tuesday afternoon to win five of their last seven games over nationally-ranked opponents.
“We’ve played, I would be willing to say, the toughest schedule in the country over the past week with seven straight games against top-25 teams – two of which were top-10 teams,” said head coach Mark Cumpian. “Our girls did a great job of responding to the challenge. I think we’ve started to tap into what this team is capable of doing and now we need to move forward with the same focus and energy.
“As far as today, our pitching staff did a phenomenal job,” he added. “Haley was great in game one and shut it down in game two. Jordan did a great job and Kayleigh did exactly what we needed her to do out of the bullpen for us in the second game. Give a lot of credit too to Nyka Wood for her work behind the plate. I’m really proud of the effort and energy that we played with today. We need to maintain our focus as we head to Lawton because Cameron is playing really well right now too.”
Game 1: Tarleton 1, No. 22 Lubbock Christian 0
Less than two hours after being named the Lone Star Conference Pitcher of the Week, Haley Freyman lived up to the billing once again as the junior polished off a one-hit shutout of the No. 22 Lubbock Christian Lady Chaps in a 1-0 Tarleton victory.
For Freyman, it’s her second 1-0 shutout victory over a nationally-ranked opponent in the last five days after winning by the same margin over No. 6 West Texas A&M Friday night.
The Tarleton right-hander was dealing from the get-go as Lubbock Christian only managed two base runners over the first four innings on a walk and an error. The Lady Chaps’ only base hit of the game came with two outs in the fifth on a soft line drive into right field.
Lubbock Christian would get nothing more as Freyman sat down seven of the final eight batters she faced to earn her ninth win of the season. She walked two and struck out two over her seven innings of work.
Meanwhile, her battery mate and the defending LSC Hitter of the Week Nyka Wood provided all the offense Freyman and the TexAnns would need with an RBI single up the middle in the top of the third to bring home Meghann Wrinkle, who led off the inning with an infield single. In addition to Wood and Wrinkle, Savannah Stech and Megan Durante each had one base hit to round out Tarleton’s four-hit day at the dish.
Avery Mullendore came up with all three RBI, including the game-winning single in the bottom of the sixth, to lead the TexAnns to a 3-2 win over No. 22 Lubbock Christian and the doubleheader sweep.
Jordan Withrow earned the start in the second game and was flawless over the first three frames while her offense delivered a 1-0 lead after three when Maddie Quintanar singled, stole second, and advanced to third on a wild pitch before coming in to score on an RBI single through the left side from Avery Mullendore.
Lubbock Christian answered back with one in the fourth and one more in the fifth, while the TexAnns left the bases juiced in each of those frames. Kayleigh Williams came out of the pen to toss a scoreless top of the sixth to set up the TexAnn rally.
Meghann Wrinkle and Maddie Quintanar set the inning up with one-out bunt singles and moved to third and second on an error and a stolen base before Avery Mullendore cashed in with a two-RBI single into left field to give Tarleton the lead heading into the final frame.
Haley Freyman came out of the pen and sat down the Lady Chaps in order to earn her third save of the season. Williams earned the win in relief to improve to 3-3 on the season after coming in for Withrow, who tossed the first five innings and allowed two runs on three hits.
Mullendore and Quintanar each had two base hits for Tarleton while Wood, Stech, Wrinkle, and Megan Durante had one hit each.
Tarleton will hit the road for three games this weekend as the TexAnns return to Lone Star Conference action at Cameron starting Friday.
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