PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas – The Lady Tigers of Texas Southern University avoided a weekend sweep at Prairie View A&M by taking second game of Saturday's doubleheader from the Lady Panthers.
TSU lost Saturday's opener 9-8, but bounced back with a 4-2 triumph in the second game.
In winning the second game, the Lady Tigers (20-14-1) maintained a one-game lead over Prairie View A&M and Arkansas–Pine Bluff in the Southwestern Athletic Conference's West Division. TSU has an 11-4 record in conference play, with one series remaining at Alcorn State.
Prairie View A&M and Pine Bluff each have 11-6 SWAC records, with each team having one conference game rained out. The threat of inclement weather postponed TSU's series at Alcorn State, which was originally scheduled for March, but since the Lady Tigers did not travel and no games were played then, the teams will make up that series this week.
The Lady Tigers open their series at Alcorn State on Thursday at 3 p.m., with a doubleheader to follow on Friday.
A pair of freshman pitchers led the Lady Tigers to their 4-2 win to finish the afternoon. Mariah Youngblood picked up her first career victory tossing five and two-thirds innings; she struck out three batters and scattered eight hits.
Fellow freshman Bailey Daniels notched the save after entering the game with the bases loaded in the bottom of the sixth inning, after PV had already scored two runs in the frame. After falling behind 3-0 to pinch hitter Daneisha Hinton, Daniels threw two strikes and then induced a groundball out to stop the home team's rally.
Daniels then completed the save by retiring the Lady Panthers in order in the bottom of the seventh. It was the first career save for the right-hander from Van, Texas.
Senior second baseman Jocilynn Ellis needed just one swing of the bat to give the Lady Tigers what turned out to be the necessary runs. After teammates Terren Vinson and Ebony Wiltz got on base to open the third inning, Ellis knocked her first home run of the season to give TSU a 3-0 lead.
Marissa Padron gave the Lady Tigers an insurance run in the top of the sixth when she singled home Madi Marek from second base.
The Lady Tigers also took a big lead in Saturday's opener, only to see the Lady Panthers come back before the teams swapped leads in the final inning. Tevanae Tate hit her second home run in as many days in the top of the first inning to give TSU a 1-0 lead. It was the freshman's team-leading third home run of the season, which also resulted in her drawing two intentional walks later in the game.
In the second inning, TSU took advantage of multiple PV errors to put four runs across the plate.
After PV took its first lead of the game at 7-6 after six innings, an RBI groundout from Dominque Tello and a sacrifice fly from A'Leccia Bell gave the Lady Tigers an 8-7 advantage in the top of the seventh.
An untimely error in the bottom of the seventh allowed PV to extend their inning and load the bases against relief pitcher Tyra Williams. The Lady Panthers then walked off with a victory when Alyssa Garcia (no known relation to TSU catcher Alyssa Garcia) knocked a two-RBI single.
Padron led the Lady Tigers with two RBIs in the opener despite going 0-for-1 at the plate. Wiltz had two hits in the opener, and went 3-for-7 for the day to bring her batting average to .373, which leads the TSU squad.
Courtesy: TSU Athletics
TSU lost Saturday's opener 9-8, but bounced back with a 4-2 triumph in the second game.
In winning the second game, the Lady Tigers (20-14-1) maintained a one-game lead over Prairie View A&M and Arkansas–Pine Bluff in the Southwestern Athletic Conference's West Division. TSU has an 11-4 record in conference play, with one series remaining at Alcorn State.
Prairie View A&M and Pine Bluff each have 11-6 SWAC records, with each team having one conference game rained out. The threat of inclement weather postponed TSU's series at Alcorn State, which was originally scheduled for March, but since the Lady Tigers did not travel and no games were played then, the teams will make up that series this week.
The Lady Tigers open their series at Alcorn State on Thursday at 3 p.m., with a doubleheader to follow on Friday.
A pair of freshman pitchers led the Lady Tigers to their 4-2 win to finish the afternoon. Mariah Youngblood picked up her first career victory tossing five and two-thirds innings; she struck out three batters and scattered eight hits.
Fellow freshman Bailey Daniels notched the save after entering the game with the bases loaded in the bottom of the sixth inning, after PV had already scored two runs in the frame. After falling behind 3-0 to pinch hitter Daneisha Hinton, Daniels threw two strikes and then induced a groundball out to stop the home team's rally.
Daniels then completed the save by retiring the Lady Panthers in order in the bottom of the seventh. It was the first career save for the right-hander from Van, Texas.
Senior second baseman Jocilynn Ellis needed just one swing of the bat to give the Lady Tigers what turned out to be the necessary runs. After teammates Terren Vinson and Ebony Wiltz got on base to open the third inning, Ellis knocked her first home run of the season to give TSU a 3-0 lead.
Marissa Padron gave the Lady Tigers an insurance run in the top of the sixth when she singled home Madi Marek from second base.
The Lady Tigers also took a big lead in Saturday's opener, only to see the Lady Panthers come back before the teams swapped leads in the final inning. Tevanae Tate hit her second home run in as many days in the top of the first inning to give TSU a 1-0 lead. It was the freshman's team-leading third home run of the season, which also resulted in her drawing two intentional walks later in the game.
In the second inning, TSU took advantage of multiple PV errors to put four runs across the plate.
After PV took its first lead of the game at 7-6 after six innings, an RBI groundout from Dominque Tello and a sacrifice fly from A'Leccia Bell gave the Lady Tigers an 8-7 advantage in the top of the seventh.
An untimely error in the bottom of the seventh allowed PV to extend their inning and load the bases against relief pitcher Tyra Williams. The Lady Panthers then walked off with a victory when Alyssa Garcia (no known relation to TSU catcher Alyssa Garcia) knocked a two-RBI single.
Padron led the Lady Tigers with two RBIs in the opener despite going 0-for-1 at the plate. Wiltz had two hits in the opener, and went 3-for-7 for the day to bring her batting average to .373, which leads the TSU squad.
Courtesy: TSU Athletics