GULF SHORES, Ala. – The Thomas University softball team's second winning streak of the season came to a close this afternoon when they were defeated by Freed-Hardeman University 3-1 and by No. 4 Lindsey Wilson College in a 5-4 thriller.
In their first contest against Freed-Hardeman, Thomas wavered from its usual ritual of scoring in the first inning of the game. This time, however, the Lady Lions grabbed the lead in the top frame of the first. FHU's Jessica Weeks led the game off with a double down the left-field line before advancing to third on a sacrifice bunt by shortstop Caitlyn Carter. Third baseman Kamara Trice drove in the first run of the game lifting a sacrifice fly to deep right-center field.
With the 1-0 advantage behind them, FHU increased their lead scoring another run in the top of the second to increase the gap to 2-0. Second baseman Lauren Bradley reached base when right-fielder
Alex VanWagner misplayed a liner allowing the ball to roll to the right-field wall. Bradley reached third on the error and then scored on a sacrifice fly to center by first baseman Bo Sullivan.
Two innings later, the Lady Night Hawks cut FHU's lead in half, 2-1, in the bottom of the 4th. Two errors allowed Thomas to jump on the board. First,
Chandler Seay hit a chopper that was misplayed by Trice. Third baseman
Rachel Hoeft then lined a single to left advancing Seay to second. FHU's left-fielder misplayed the ball allowing Seay to run through third and score TU's lone run of the game.
The Lady Lions would score an insurance run in the top of the 6th en route to the 3-1 victory. FHU's Mallory Spurlock picked up the win while
Katie Lopes (4-2) was credited with the loss.
In the nightcap, No. 4 Lindsey Wilson College defeated the Lady Night Hawks in walk off fashion in the bottom of the 7th inning.
Thomas went back to their ritual and got on the board first taking a 3-0 lead through two and a half innings. The Lady Night Hawks scored once in the first and added two more in the top half of the third inning. Notably, Hoeft ripped a liner to the right-center gap for a double, scoring two Lady Night Hawks to take the 3-0 advantage.
Lindsey Wilson struck back scoring two runs in the bottom of the third when second baseman Amanda Trampe singled in both Jenna Firestein and Chelsea Showers.
Brittany Daniels provided Thomas what they thought was their insurance run in the top of the fourth. With two outs in the inning, Daniels hit a rope to center to score
Ashley Chapman. Previously,
Kelsey Connolly hit a one-out single to right before being replaced by Chapman as a pinch runner.
Trailing 4-2 in the bottom of the fourth inning, the Blue Raiders scored two more runs to tie the game. With the bases loaded, Andrea Whelan hit a ground ball to shortstop
Lindsey Young who misplayed it, allowing Sydney Fourman and Abbi Goede to cross the plate on the error.
Both teams went scoreless in the fifth and sixth innings as reliever
Ashley Sikes retired six-straight Blue Raiders.
Gridlocked at 4-4, LWC's Travatia Bowden sealed the 5-4 victory for the fourth-ranked Blue Raiders in the bottom of the seventh with a walk-off RBI single. TU's Sikes (8-3) received the loss while Jordan Hood picked up the victory.
Thomas falls to 18-6 on the year while Freed-Hardeman improves to 3-3 and No. 4 Lindsey Wilson advances to 11-2.
The Lady Night Hawks return to action on Sun., March 8, when they continue their run into the Gulf Coast Invitational. Thomas will face the University of Houston-Victoria in a single game set. First pitch for Sunday's contest is slated for 10 a.m.
For up-to-date information on this game and other TU Athletics, visit
www.TUNightHawks.com. Stay up-to-date with news, scores, photos, game summaries, and feature stories of your TU softball team by following them via Twitter at
@NightHawksSoftb.
