BEAUMONT, Texas – Taylor Davis extended her streak of reaching base safely to 20 games as the Lamar University Cardinals split a Southland Conference doubleheader with visiting Stephen F. Austin on Friday.
 
SFA rallied from a 4-0 deficit for a 6-5 win in eight innings in the opener before LU returned the favor bouncing back from a 2-0 deficit in the fifth inning for a 5-2 victory in the nightcap.
 
"These were two hard-fought games," LU coach Holly Bruder said. "Obviously, when you have a 4-0 lead in the fifth inning, you think you should win. But we did a good job of bouncing back in the second game."
   
Shelby Hughston went 3-for-3 with two RBIs for LU (18-13 overall, 4-4 Southland), but SFA used home runs from Margarita Corona and Triniti Kendzior to put an end to LU's season-best six-game winning streak.
 
The Cardinals took a 1-0 lead in the second on an RBI infield single by Hughston before making it 4-0 in the fourth. Hughston squeezed home a run while Savana Guidry had an RBI single in the frame.
 
SFA (16-13, 4-4) chipped away at the lead with one run in the fifth and two in the sixth before tying it at 4 in the top of the seventh on a passed ball.
 
LU had a chance to win it in the bottom of the seventh after Kelly Meeuwsen hit a one out triple. Davis lashed a line drive that looked to be the game-winning hit, but SFA second baseman
Bryana Novegil made a lunging grab to save the game for the Ladyjacks.
 
Corona led off SFA's eighth inning with a mammoth home run to left center.  Emily Evans drove in an important insurance run on a sacrifice fly to give SFA a 6-4 lead.
 
The Cardinals loaded the bases with two out. Shelby Henderson followed with a single through the right side to score Maddy Myers, but Hughston was thrown out at the plate to end the game.
 
LU starter Laura Napoli went 5 1/3 innings, but did not factor in the decision. Napoli allowed five hits and two runs, both earned. She walked one and struck out two. Taylor Gruell took the loss, allowing three hits and three runs, two earned, in 1 2/3 innings. Amie Cisneros allowed one unearned run in one inning of relief.
 
Makayla Sikes (9-5) pitched a complete game for SFA, allowing nine hits and five runs, four earned. She walked five and struck out five.
   
Gruell (7-3) threw four innings of two-hit, shutout relief to help the Cardinals in the comeback win.
 
SFA scored a run in the top of the second off Napoli before adding one in the third off reliever Julia Voluntad.
 
The Cardinals erupted for three runs in the bottom of the fifth thanks to an RBI triple by Kimberly Mattox, a run-scoring single by Guidry and a throwing error.
 
LU tacked on two runs in the sixth on an RBI single by Maddy Myers and a bases-loaded walk to Hughston.
 
Gruell, who had five strikeouts in the game, set the side down in order in the seventh.
 
SFA starter Callee Guffey (4-6) held the Cardinals in check over the first innings, fashioning a no-hit bid for 3 2/3 innings until Meeuwsen singled with two outs in the fourth. Guffey allowed seven hits over 5 1/3 innings, surrendering five runs, four earned. She walked two and struck out six.
 
NOTES: Davis' 20-game streak is tied for the eighth longest such streak in the modern era of LU softball. Brittany Rodriguez holds the record at 26 games.
 
ON DECK: The Cardinals and Ladyjacks wrap the three-game series at 2 p.m. Saturday on Camper Reunion Day. All youth who attended LU softball camps last year receive free admission when they wear their camp T-shirt to the game. There will also be a postgame autograph session,
 
TICKETS: For tickets, please call 409-880-1715, or CLICK HERE. The Montagne Center ticket office is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays. The ticket window at the LU Softball Complex will open one hour prior to first pitch on game days. LU students receive free admission to home games with their Cardinal One card, while Junior Cardinal Club members are admitted for free when they present their membership badge.