BEAUMONT, Texas – The Lamar University softball team saw its five-game winning streak come to an end Saturday, as the Cardinals dropped both ends of a Southland Conference doubleheader at Abilene Christian by scores of 7-1 and 6-4.
 
"We made too many errors, and just didn't hit the ball well enough," LU coach Holly Bruder said. "It was a disappointing end to what had been a good week."
 
LU, which had collected at least 10 hits in each of its last four games, including 12 in Friday's 8-3 win at ACU, had just three hits in the opener and eight in the second game.
 
"We didn't make the adjustments we need to make at the plate," Bruder said. "We didn't have the same focus at the plate that we had Friday night."
 
LU's two errors in the opener proved costly, leading to five unearned runs. ACU (11-12, 5-1) scored an unearned run in the third and four more unearned runs in the fourth off of LU starter Laura Napoli (4-5). Holly Neese's two-out, three-run triple in the fourth inning broke the game open for ACU.
 
Maddy Myers put the Cardinals (15-11 overall, 3-3 Southland) on the board in the sixth inning with an RBI single that scored pinch-runner Marissa LeJune, but the Cardinals left the bases loaded. ACU then sealed the win with two runs in the bottom of the sixth.
 
ACU's Allison Turner (2-6), who gave up six hits and two runs in 4 2/3 innings of relief in Friday's game, got the win, allowing two hits and one run in 5 2/3 innings. Hannah Null, the starter and loser on Friday, picked up her first save with 1 1/3 innings of relief, getting out of the bases-loaded jam in the sixth.
 
LU's Brittany Rodriguez saw her school-record hitting streak snapped at 20 games, as she went 0-for-3 and was hit by a pitch.
 
Null (6-6) pitched a complete-game victory in the nightcap for ACU.
 
The Cardinals fell behind 1-0 in the first inning of the second game, but took a 2-1 lead in the top of the second inning on Myers' two-run double. ACU single runs in the second and fourth inning to take a 3-2 lead.
 
The Cardinals seemed poised to grab the lead back in the sixth inning, loading the bases with one out, but LU failed to score.
 
Abilene Christian added three big insurance runs in the sixth inning when Demi McNulty hit a three-run, two-out triple on a 3-2 pitch, one pitch after it appeared she had been caught looking at strike three from Napoli, who had come on in relief.
 
"That was a huge turning point," Bruder said. "That made the hole we had to climb out of much deeper."
 
LU responded with two runs in the seventh as Stephanie Meeuwsen hit a to-out triple and Kelly Meeuwsen followed with her second home run of the season, but that's where the two-put magic ended.
 
Amie Cisneros (1-1) took the loss in relief, allowing four hits and three runs in 2 1/3 innings.
 
LU, which went 7-9 on its 16-game road swing, returns home to host Incarnate Word in a three-game Southland Conference series. The teams play a doubleheader at 3 p.m. Friday and a single game at 1 p.m. Saturday. LU then hosts Houston in a non-conference doubleheader at 3 p.m. March 30. LU is 5-0 at home this season.
 
"We're looking forward to playing at home again," Bruder said. "We love playing in front of our fans. I'd love to see a great crowd on hand to support us."
 
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