CLAREMORE, Okla. (March 27, 2015) – Lubbock Christian benefited from wild pitches, errors and walks delivered by Rogers State to earn a pair of 6-3 and 12-8 victories over the Hillcats Friday evening at Diamond Sports Complex, lifted by Sammie Murrietta's four runs driven in and eight unanswered runs in game two, to move into a tie for the top spot within the Heartland Conference.
The Lady Chaps (23-7, 12-1 Heartland), who took advantage of six RSU wild pitches, five errors and 14 walks, now sit atop league standings alongside Texas A&M International, who will play St. Edward's tomorrow in a doubleheader.
The first hit of the day was attributed to Jessica Loiacano on a double to right center, also resulting in the first score of the afternoon as she brought Faith Koria around. The Hillcats answered quickly by putting runners on first and second following a pair of walks by Courtney McGee before a Katlin Alexander knocked a single to right center to fill up the bases. A hit by Whitney Hamilton scored Cailin Simpson to tie the ballgame at one apiece.
In the bottom of the third, Simpson sailed the ball between McGee's legs, and Carley Conley singled to right center, making her way to second on the throw and pushing Simpson to third. Hamilton recorded her second RBI on a groundout to Kelsey Hoppel at shortstop prior to a deep throw from Katlin Reed in left field to catcher Liz Torres on a Bailey Spencer single to snag Conley out at home to record the final out of the inning with the Hillcats leading 2-1.
The Lady Chaps knotted the game at 2-all on a dropped catch by the first baseman that gave Ashton Bell enough time to make it to first and Sammie Murrietta to cross home plate. A trio of walks loaded the bases for LCU in the top of the fifth for Murrietta who sent a single to right center to score two Lady Chaps for a 4-2 advantage. Back-to-back wild pitches by Rachel Jones permitted both Murrietta and Sydney Beuthien to scamper home to widen LCU's lead to 6-2.
The sixth inning remained scoreless for each squad, as did the top of the seventh for the Lady Chaps. The Hillcats took advantage of an LCU error and a wild pitch in the bottom of the final frame to place runners at first and second before an RSU groundout put out number one on the board. Simpson banged a shot to left field where Reed made a tough, but seemingly obvious, catch and threw the ball to third to force out the Hillcat runner and end the game. However, none of the three umpires made a signal to acknowledge the outs, as Ashleigh Stidman made it home to cut the lead to 6-3. After a protest by Coach Daren Hays, the called was upheld, keeping the Hillcats alive. Conley then reached on a fielder's choice upping the outs to a pair before Alexander singled to left field to put Conley in scoring position. Hamilton stepped to the plate looking to save RSU, but Bell was there to corral her shot in center field to conclude the game.
McGee (12-3), coming off of a win over then-number one West Texas A&M on Tuesday after getting her wisdom teeth removed, recorded the victory with nine hits, two walks and a pair of strikeouts.
The Hillcat defense got off to a rough start in game two, walking Koria and delivering a passed ball to send her to second. Murrietta also earned a walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch as Koria proceeded to third. Loiacano reached first on a fielding error by the shortstop that brought Koria home for run number one of the contest, and a single by Molly Davison to left center scored Murrietta for a 2-0 Lady Chap edge.
Koria opened the third inning with a single to center, and Beuthien tallied her 11th home run of the season to double the Lady Chap lead to 4-0 before RSU pieced together a large run in the bottom half of the frame by collecting five runs on five hits to take their first lead of the game at 5-4.
Once again in the top of an inning, Koria started the offense for LCU as she doubled to right field as the leadoff batter in the fifth and progressed to third on a wild pitch. Beuthien brought Koria around on a double that smacked the left center fence, and singles by Murrietta and Loiacano added another run to give the Lady Chaps back the lead at 6-5. Torres sailed a ball up the middle that skirted past the centerfielder to score Davison and Loiacano to extend LCU's lead to 8-5.
The defense for LCU once again struggled in the top of the sixth, giving up a pair of walks, a throwing error and a wild pitch to give the Lady Chaps another run. Murrietta's second two-run RBI of the day pushed the lead to 11-5, and a sacrifice fly by Davison tacked on another score.
A three-run homer by Hamilton in the bottom of the final inning lessened the gap to 12-8 before the Lady Chaps closed out the day with the pair of victories.
Hoppel (6-1) took the win with seven hits, one walk and four strikeouts.
LCU and the Hillcats finish the three-game series tomorrow at 11 a.m. at the Diamond Sports Complex.
