BEAUMONT, Texas – On her senior day,
Brooke Davis provided Cardinal fans with her first career walk-off hit as her RBI single gave Lamar University softball the 5-4 victory in their series finale against Incarnate Word.
Big Red got off to a flying start as a leadoff triple from
Shenita Tucker was immediately rewarded with an RBI groundout from
Jayne Sepulveda. With two outs in the inning,
Cameron Niedenthal then doubled the lead with a senior day bomb to left field for her third home run of the season. An RBI double from
Makenzie Wright would give LU a 3-0 advantage after one.
UIW fired back with a leadoff solo shot in the top of the third and an RBI single in the fourth, but
Emma Wardlaw and
Karyana Mitchell were able to work out of jams to keep Lamar in front. LU would load the bases in the bottom of the fourth with
Roxy Thompson knocking in a run on a sacrifice fly to increase the lead back to two.
Fielding miscues would cost Big Red in the top of the sixth, however, as a throwing error allowed for an infield single from UIW to turn into a run for the leadoff batter. Another fielding error on the next pitch put the tying run on base which would eventually come around to score on an RBI single. The visitors from San Antonio then appeared poised to take the lead after loading the bases in top of the seventh, but Mitchell would force a groundout to make it 13 stranded baserunners on the day for UIW.
With the game tied at four entering the bottom of the seventh,
Jayne Sepulveda singled up the middle on the first pitch she saw before Niedenthal did the same and advanced on the throw to put runners on second on third with one out. Davis then capitalized and kicked off the senior day festivities with a single to left center to give Lamar their third walk-off win of the season.
After the game, Lamar honored their four graduating seniors after their penultimate game at the LU Softball Complex. Davis' walk-off hit was her third RBI knock of the week while Niedenthal (HR) set her season high total with three on the day.
Mikaila Kenney drew a late walk for Lamar while
Karyana Mitchell picked up the win on senior day in 3.1 innings of relief allowing two unearned runs on six hits and two walks.
Elsewhere, Wright (RBI, 2B) had her career-best day at the plate with three hits while Sepulveda extended her hit streak to nine.
Emma Wardlaw got the start on the mound going 3.2 innings while allowing two runs (one earned) on seven hits with three strikeouts.
LU hits the road next week for their final conference series of the season where they face off against Southeastern Louisiana. Friday will feature a doubleheader with games at 4 and 6 p.m. with the series finale coming on Saturday at 12 p.m. All three games will be streamed on ESPN+.
