Brandi Crnkovic tossed the third perfect game in Sam Houston history and the Bearkats tied a school record with four home runs in one game as the softball team opened its 2008 season with a 13-0 shutout of Prairie View A&M Saturday afternoon at Bearkat Softball Stadium.
The Bearkats also won game two of the doubleheader by a 13-0 margin as Morgan Mikulin threw a four-hit shutout.
Crnkovic faced 15 batters, striking out five, having six ground out, and four fly out. The performance was Crnkovic's second no-hitter as a Bearkat and the 16th no-hitter in SHSU softball annals. The only other Bearkat perfect games came from Aydrian Guajardo in a 2003 five-inning game against Texas Southern and Shalayne Blythe in a five-inning victory over Southeastern Louisiana.
Mandy Huckabee hit two home runs and Whitney Wilson and Sarah Parich added two more as the Bearkats totaled 12 hits in their 23 at bats. Wilson's solo home run in the fourth inning came in the freshman's first college game. Huckabee blasted two-run homers in both the first and second innings.
The Kats changed lineups in the nightcap, but the score remained the same.
“This team is really special,” SHSU head coach Bob Brock said. “We had a good year last year and it's not like anybody really needs to get to know anybody. Some of my really great teams in the past have started really young, and I think we have a really special team here.”
It didn't take long for the Bearkats to score in Saturday's first game. In the first inning with Amy Brown on second, Casey Everitt drilled a line drive to left field that drove in Brown. Huckabee was next. She cleared the bases with a homer to left.
After Lauren Burns drew a walk and stole second base, she reached third on a passed ball. Tanya Hooser dribbled a ball that Prairie View's shortstop couldn't handle and reached first on the error. Burns took advantage of the mistake and scored. Sarah Parich capped off the inning with a home run in almost the same spot as Huckabee's homer.
The second inning would be much of the same as the Bearkats scored four runs. With Brown on third and Hailey Wiginton on second, freshman Whitney Wilson brought her teammates home with a one-out looper to center field. Wilson remained on first, but she did not stay there long as Huckeabee blasted another homer that clanked off the scoreboard for a 10-0 lead.
Armed with a blazing fastball and a tricky changeup, Crnkovic put her name in the SHSU record books by throwing a five-inning perfect game. Crnkovic's 15-up, 15-down outing was the third such performance by an SHSU pitcher.
The perfect game was in jeopardy on the game's last out as Wilson bobbled the grounder, but found a way to make the play for Crnkovic.
“It felt good being out there,” Crnkovic said. “I just worked on my new pitches and the defense took care of it whenever they got hit. Whenever we started scoring all those runs, it was easier to just relax and throw.
“The defense was really behind me today and Amanda Lindsey in right field made two really great catches. Whitney Wilson at second made some good catches. It was just a team effort for sure.”
The Kats also tied a school record for most home runs in a game with four.
In the second game, with the exception of Hailey Wiginton, Brock decided to go with a completely different lineup to rest his starters.
“It doesn't matter if they're starters or not,” Huckabee said. “It was two different teams and both squads put up 13. Coach Brock can put anybody in at any time and it's OK. It's such a relief because anybody can play any position at any time. I guess that's why we mesh so well. We have all that talent and it just makes it easier.”
It took the Kats a little longer to get going, but they found their groove and started scoring some runs.
SHSU led 3-0 going into the bottom of the third when the Bearkats started their scoring surge.
With the bases loaded, freshman Alex Survant hammered a shot to right-center field that hit the fence for a two-out triple and brought home three runs. Kendra Spivey brought home Survant on an infield single.
Spivey scored on the next at-bat when Wiginton reached first on an infield single. Spivey rounded second and headed for third when Prairie View's first baseman overthrew third. Spivey scored easily on the error. With Wiginton on third, Morgan Mikulin, who picked up the win in the circle, singled to left field for the final run of the inning as the Bearkats leapt out to a 9-0 lead.
In her first collegiate game, Survant played a big part in the victory and tallied six RBIs.
“I was really nervous at first,” Survant said. “I kept telling myself, ?It's just another game.' I just came out and hit like coach Brock told me to hit.”
The Bearkats return to action Wednesday when they travel to College Station to take on Texas A&M, the team that knocked them out of the NCAA Regionals last spring. Wednesday's game starts at 5 p.m.
