ARLINGTON – Tarleton State Softball wrapped up its opening WAC series on Saturday with a split against UT Arlington at Allan Saxe Field, falling 7-4 in game one before bouncing back with a 6-2 victory in game two. The Texans moved to 22-16 overall and 1-2 in WAC play following the day’s action.
The Texans dropped the opener despite a four-run first inning, but answered in the second game with a five-run second inning and a complete-game effort in the circle from Shelby Schultz to salvage the series finale.
UT Arlington 7, Tarleton State 4
The Texans came out swinging in the top of the first, plating four runs before UT Arlington ever came to the plate.
Hayden Fox singled and Mikayla Wilson walked to put two aboard, and after a sacrifice bunt moved both into scoring position, Jaelynn Duke delivered the big swing with a grand slam to left center to give Tarleton State an early 4-0 lead.
UT Arlington answered with three runs in the bottom half of the opening frame. After a pair of walks and a single loaded the bases, the Mavericks scored two unearned runs on a TSU fielding error. Shortly after, an RBI walk pushed another runner across home plate and narrowed the deficit to one.
The Mavericks took their first lead in the third. With two on and two outs, a two-run double to right center pushed UTA in front 5-4.
UT Arlington added another run in the fourth on a solo home run to left field, stretching the lead to 6-4.
The Mavericks tacked on one more insurance run in the fifth after Peyton Holland singled, stole second, advanced on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a sacrifice fly, making it 7-4.
Tarleton State used three arms in the opener. Jaelynn Duke took the loss in relief and was charged with the decision, moving to 2-4 on the year. Abigail Dowell started and worked the first 0.2 innings, while Alex Aguilar also saw time in the circle. The Texans allowed nine hits and seven runs, while UTA’s Kynlee Bowlin earned the win after going the distance.
Tarleton State 6, UT Arlington 2
The Texans answered in game two with an early offensive burst and a strong outing from Shelby Schultz to earn the split.
After both teams were scoreless in the first, Tarleton State broke the game open in the second. Isabella Bojkovic opened the inning with a single, Mariah Debose followed with a walk, and Hannah Reed advanced both runners with a sacrifice bunt. Fox then drew a walk to load the bases before Mikayla Wilson lined a two-run single to left. A fielding error on the play allowed Fox to score as well, pushing the lead to 3-0.
After a UTA pitching change, Casey Schultz launched a two-run home run to right center, capping the five-run inning and giving the Texans a 5-0 advantage.
UT Arlington answered with a pair of solo home runs in the bottom of the second, but that would be all the Mavericks could manage against Shelby Schultz. Marley Neises homered to right and Holland followed later in the inning with a solo shot to left, trimming Tarleton State’s lead to 5-2.
The Texans added one final insurance run in the sixth when Duke blasted a solo home run to left center, her second home run of the day, extending the lead to 6-2.
From there, Shelby Schultz shut the door. She retired the Mavericks in order in the sixth and worked around a two-on threat in the seventh to seal the win and hand Tarleton State its first conference victory of the season.
Shelby Schultz tossed a complete game in the win, improving to 8-4 after allowing two runs on six hits across all seven innings. She struck out five and walked two in the 124-pitch effort.
Tarleton State will continue WAC play next week as the Texans return home for their next conference series, taking on Abilene Christian in a doubleheader on Friday (4 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.) and a single game on Saturday (12 p.m.)
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