Lake Charles, La. - Third baseman Shelbi Tucker's home run in the top of the first inning gave Sam Houston a three-run lead before McNeese State ever came to bat in the pair's Southland Conference softball game Sunday afternoon.
But the Cowgirls came rallied for four runs in the bottom of the second inning and another in the fifth to nail down a 5-3 win in the contest and take the series two games to one.
McNeese and Sam Houston split Staurday, the Bearkats winning the first game 3-0 and McNeese the second 5-0. With today's victory McNeese upped its record to 22-21 for the season and 12-9 in Southland Conference play.
Sam Houston dropped to 15-24 for the year and 7-10 in league action.
Tomi Garrison, back in the circle Sunday after throwing the 20th no-hitter in Sam Houston history Saturday, gave up 11 hits in six innings. Most of the damage came in the four-run second inning with the big hit a two-run single by Stacey Conley.
The Bearkats started strong with Tori Benavidez and Sarah Allison each singled then scored on Tucker's home run. But Kayla Shepherd took over in the circle in the second inning and held Sam Houston to only two hits the rest of the day.
Sam Houston returns to the Bearkat Softball Complex to play host to Texas A&M Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. The Bearkats return to Southland Conference action when they play host to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in a three-game series beginning with a 1 p.m. doubleheader Saturday.
