Designated player Hillary Adams went 3-for-3 with a pair of RBIs to lead Sam Houston to a 8-3 softball victory over Lamar Sunday afternoon in Huntsville.
The victory gave the Bearkats their first Southland Conference series sweep of the season. The SHSU women now stand 18-17 for the year and 7-5 in league action. The Cardinals, who came into the weekend atop the league standings, dropped to 12-14 for the season and 7-4 in Southland play.
Sam Houston couldn't have been more efficient, scoring their eight runs on nine hits and leaving only three runners of base. Lamar, on the other hand, totaled 11 hits but left 11 stranded.
Catcher Tiffany Castillo and second baseman Allyssa Coggins each went 2-for-3 at the plate for the Bearkats.
The Bearkats took advantage of a Lamar error that put lead-off hitter Tori Koerselman on base. First, Adams doubled in Koerselman. Then, with two out, Tiffany Castillo blasted her fifth homer over the left field fence to give SHSU a 3-0 lead with all three runs unearned.
Lamar got one run back in the third inning with a solo home run by third baseman Casey Cromwell.
Adams led off the bottom of the fourth inning with a solo home run off the left field foul pole. The homer upped Adams' school record career home run total to 29 in her three seasons as a Bearkat.
Tiffany Castillo doubled then scored on a double to left by first baseman Sarah Allison to put the Kats up 5-1.
The Cardinals cut the lead to two with a pair of runs in the top of the fifth inning. Lamar loaded the bases on three consecutive hits, then scored on a Bearkat error and a sacrifice fly by second baseman Jenna Holland.
Allison brought in two more runs with a double to the left field fence in the bottom of the sixth. Tiffany Castillo and Alyssa Coggins scored after reaching base on a fielder's choice and an error, respectively.
Shelby Lancaster picked up her second victory of the series and upped her season mark in the circle to 5-5. Lancaster faced 21 batters in relief after taking over from starter Haley Baros in the third inning.
Sam Houston now begins a 7-game road swing with a Southland weekend series next week at Northwestern State.
