Fort Worth, Texas. – The Tiger Softball team took their final road trip of the regular season this past weekend to battle the Texas Wesleyan University Rams.
The Tiger offense showed out in game 1, scoring 8 runs in 4 consecutive innings from the 3rd-6th innings. Abby Schleisman and Paige Major each homered and Jaci Jeffers, Ashley Vaccaro,and Ciara Valadez all had RBI hits. The Rams tried to battle back from an 8-1 deficit late but couldn’t complete the rally as the Tigers hung on for an 8-5 win in the series opener.
In Game 2 the offense slowed for the first half of the game as the first runs game from a 3 run 5th inning from the Rams. But the Tigers answered back with a big 5 run 6th, scoring on two wild pitches, a 2 RBI double from Baylee Blackburn, and an RBI double from Ashley Vaccaro to take a 6-3 lead. The Rams got 1 run back in the bottom half of the inning but Abby Schleisman hit another solo shot in the 7th to provide an insurance run. Chelsie Hirtler shut the Rams down in the final inning to cap off a complete game and a 6-4 Tigers win.
Game 3 would be a back and forth battle that required an extra inning of play. The Rams led 2-0 early but the Tigers scored 3 in the 3rd and 1 in the 4th to take the lead. The Rams scored 3 more in the 5th to take back the lead but a single from Baylee Blackburn tied the game up at 5 a piece. This score would hold into the 8th inning where the Tigers unfortunately failed to score the extra inning runner on 2nd. This opened the door for the Rams to walk it off and they did so on a single up the middle to take game 3 by a score of 6-5.
The Tigers looked to take the series in game 4 in what was the lowest scoring game of the series. The Rams took an early 2-0 lead and then added a run in the 5th while initially keeping the Tiger offense in check. But the Tigers prevailed in the 6th with a big 4 run inning, Chelsie Hirtler singled to bring in a run and then an extra run would score on a bad throw from the Rams. Jovita Trevino then singled for 2 RBIs to give the Tigers a 4-3 lead. The Rams did not answer in their final two trips to the plate as the Tigers earned a huge series win.
The Tigers are now 16-27 (8-24) on the season as they head into a huge final series of the regular season at home this weekend against Langston University. If the team wins 3 of the 4 games or sweeps, they will clinch a spot in the SAC Tournament.
