Brianna Bishop hit a three-run home run in the top of the 10th inning as Stephen F. Austin defeated Sam Houston State 5-2 in the final contest in a three-game Southland Conference softball series Wednesday at Bearkat Softball Complex.
Sam Houston State won the first two games of the series 2-0 and 5-4 Tuesday.
However, in Wednesday's final contest, Sam Houston couldn't string anything together late despite cranking out 10 hits.
“We couldn't put the hits together,” SHSU head coach Bob Brock said. “We still have a good team, so we should be OK. You hate to lose it there in the 10th, but we will be alright.”
The Bearkats struck early with two runs in the bottom of the first inning. Sophomore shortstop Hailey Wiginton led the frame off with a double. Then with two outs, junior first baseman Amy Brown singled to make it 1-0. Sophomore second baseman Whitney Wilson followed with another single to score Brown.
Freshman pitcher Tomi Garrison kept SFA off the board in the first two innings, but ran into trouble in the third. With two outs, Kayla Gutowski launched a monster two-run home run over the center-field wall to knot the game at 2.
Brandi Crnkovic took over in the circle for the Kats in the fourth. The senior, who pitched all 14 innings on Tuesday, picked up where she left off and shut the Ladyjacks down until the top of the 10th when the tiebreaker rule came into effect.
With a runner on second to start the frame, Crnkovic (3-4) issued a one-out walk to Gutowski then gave up a three-run bomb to Briana Bishop.
Still, the Bearkats had their chances to win. In the bottom of the seventh, Wiginton was left stranded on second base after reaching on a single and advancing on a wild pitch. Brown and Mandy Gegen both singled in the eighth, but were also left on base.
The credit goes to Ladyjacks pitcher Monika Covington (3-6). After giving up those two runs in the first, she tossed nine scoreless innings to earn the win.
“It's always tough losing in 10 innings,” said Brown, who went 3-for-5. “We tried, it just didn't fall for us. Hopefully, we will get them again.”
The Bearkats also got some solid defensive plays to force the game into extra innings. With runners at the corners and one out in the seventh, Wiginton snagged a line drive and stepped on second base for a double play to end the threat.
It was Gegen's turn in the eighth. The Texas A&M transfer jumped up and robbed SFA's Kim Daley of a potential two-run homer to center.
“Our defense was just unbelievable,” Brock said. “We just kind of stuck Mandy out there to play center with Whitney coming back at second. That play by Hailey was just big time.
It was nice to take two from Stephen F. Austin, but we were within reach of three. I think now we are the type of team that wants to take three, and we have the team to do that.”
