A five-run fourth inning helped power the Henderson State Softball team to a 9-2 win in the opening game of a doubleheader against Texas A&M International University on Tuesday afternoon at Dee White Field. The Lady Reddies (13-16) were unable however, to complete the sweep as their bats were cooled in the second game resulting in a 2-1 loss.
TAMIU started the first game with a bang as Kristen LaBuhn took a
Stephanie Johnson offering out to left field for a leadoff homerun. Johnson would get out of the first inning without surrendering another run and then settled in by tossing three consecutive scoreless innings. A pair of runs in the third inning pushed HSU out in front 2-1.
The Lady Reddies stretched their lead to 7-1 with five runs scored in the fourth inning. In that frame,
Ashley Ray,
Katey Gorsage, and
Sarah Gipson recorded RBI base hits. Gipson platted two runs on a shot lined back up the middle that scored Gorsage and
Amber Klug. TAMIU picked up a run in the top of the fifth inning on a sacrifice fly.
The eighth and ninth runs of the game came in style for the Lady Reddies as Gorsage launched a two-run homerun to left field. Gorsage leads the team and is now second in the Great American Conference in homeruns with six on the year.
Johnson would go the distance to earn her second win of the season.
Game two saw TAMIU jump out to a 2-0 lead through four and a half innings of play. To that point in the game HSU had not recorded a hit as they went down in order in each of the first three innings. The Lady Reddies' first hit of the game however, was a no doubter as
Ashley Ray lined a homerun inside the foul pole in left field to lead off the fourth inning.
HSU posted scoring threats in the fifth, sixth, and seventh innings, but TAMIU pitcher Sarah Johnson would not allow another run to cross the plate as pitched her team to a 2-1 upset victory.
The Lady Reddies will back in action over the weekend at Dee White Field as they will play host to Southwestern Oklahoma State University on Saturday, March 17th and Sunday, March 18th. First pitch on Saturday is set for 1:00 p.m.
