BEAUMONT, Texas – In their first two games on their home diamond, Lamar University's softball team rattled off two wins in a Sunday doubleheader to push their current win streak to five.
Trinity Brandon provided her second game-winning hit of the weekend with a two-run triple in Game 1 while all the bats were on display in Game 2.
Brandon went 3-for-3 in Game 1 to lead the team in hits while
Shenita Tucker,
Jayne Sepulveda and
Kalyn Xayaseng each tallied hits as well in the 3-2 win. After pitching a nine-inning complete game on Friday,
Emma Wardlaw got back on the mound and picked up the win after six innings of work allowing two runs on eight hits with four strikeouts. Mitchell then picked up the save in the seventh allowing no hit with two strikeouts.
Eight of the nine starters recorded hits in LU's 11-0 Game 2 win with four players recording two including Tucker, Sepulveda (RBI), Brandon (RBI) and
Raigan Brannon (4 RBI).
Cameron Niedenthal (2),
Emilee LaRue and
Aubrey Brown each added RBI as well. Mitchell picked up where she left off in Game 1 with four scoreless innings allowing just two hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
Sabrina Jolin finished things off with a hitless fifth inning.
Game 1: LU 3, Niagara 2
Neither team had much going early in Game 1 with Wardlaw getting out of a couple of two-runners-on situations in the second and third innings. The Cardinals broke through in the fifth inning on an RBI single from Xayaseng, but Niagara responded quickly with back-to-back RBI hits in the top of the sixth to take the lead.
Trinity Brandon was able to come up big for LU once again in the bottom of the sixth as she smashed a go-ahead two-run triple just two days after hitting the go-ahead home run against North Dakota. Mitchell came in for the save opportunity and did so by striking out the first two batters and forcing a groundout to clinch Game 1 for Big Red.
Game 2: LU 11, Niagara 0 (5 innings)
LU managed a much faster start in Game 2 as a four-run first inning buoyed by three RBI singles from Sepulveda, Brandon and Brannon put them ahead quick. Niedenthal managed a two-RBI single in the second to extend the lead to six. A five-run fourth inning including a three-RBI triple from Brannon pushed the game into run-rule territory while Jolin pitched a hitless fifth to seal the deal for the Cardinals.
The Cardinals will play the third game of their seven-game homestand on Wednesday when they face off against Southern at 4 p.m. at the LU Softball Complex.
