Tulsa
Eastern Illinois
Big Innings Lead Softball over Eastern Illinois, 11-2
2/28/2010 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Feb. 28, 2010
Box Score |
Box Score 
TULSA, Okla. - Freshman Samantha Cobb and Caitlin Everett each produced four RBI to lead The University of Tulsa softball team to an 11-2 win over Eastern Illinois in five innings Sunday afternoon at the Tulsa Embassy Suites Invitational.
The Golden Hurricane (7-7), which finished a perfect 4-0 weekend, scored five runs in the second inning on a sacrifice fly by Everett and Cobb's second grand slam of the season. Everett also hit a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning, and drove home the final two runs with her double in the fifth inning.
Senior Lauren Lindsay hit a solo home run in the first inning to tie Katie Torres' school career home run record of 37.
The final game of the tournament was a battle of the two teams that were 3-0 to that point, and Tulsa came out on top with 11 runs on 11 hits, playing its fourth game of errorless ball over the weekend. Eastern Illinois fell to 5-3 on the season, and scored two runs on three hits and committed one error.
"It was a very successful weekend. It was something that the team really needed, and something that the coaches really needed," Tulsa head coach John Bargfeldt said. "It was good to see us getting better each time out. That's what we hope to see, but sometimes I think it took a little longer just because of where our confidence was.
Senior Christian Timmons went 3-for-3 in the game with one RBI and three runs scored, and sophomore Jessica Stoelke went 2-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored. Senior Jackie Lawrence (2-3) earned her second victory of the weekend with a complete-game six-strikeout performance.
"I think you saw in the way we played this game here against a team that was playing very well, we came in and we swung the bats well," said Bargfeldt. "We had the best hitting all weekend, just from the standpoint of the number of balls we put on the barrel of the bat. We just wanted to keep building off of what we had done in the weekend. Pitching was also better this time around. I felt like Jackie was better the first time out on the weekend than this time, but it's early in the season and going back-to-back, sometimes there is a little bit of difference in your stuff and being able to locate the ball where you wanted to. She fought that a little bit, but hung in there, grinding. She got into a situation where she just had to figure out how to win without her best stuff, and she did a good job of that."
Lindsay put Tulsa on the board first with her solo blast. EIU knotted the score with a RBI single in the top of the second inning, but the Hurricane took over from that point.
TU exploded for five runs in the second inning, begun by Everett's sacrifice fly, and punctuated by Cobb's grand slam. Tulsa took a 7-1 lead in the fifth on Everett's second sacrifice fly of the day.
The Panthers picked up their second run in the fifth inning with two singles. Lawrence allowed just one other base hit in the games, and at one point had retired seven batters in a row.
Tulsa put the game away in the bottom of the fifth inning, invoking the run rule with four runs and five hits in the inning. Senior Vanessa Vice led off with a single, followed by a single by junior Lauren Menke and a walk to sophomore Skylar Swanson. Stoelke hit an RBI single to right center, scoring Vice, and Menke was thrown out at the plate.
Timmons followed Stoelke's RBI single with one of her own, and after a pop out, Everett slammed a double to left center, driving the deciding runs across the plate.
The Golden Hurricane returns to action Wednesday when it travels to Norman to play Oklahoma in a 6 p.m. showdown at the OU Softball Complex.
Tickets for all Tulsa softball home games are $6 for adults and $4 for youth. Tickets can be purchased at the TU Athletics Ticket Office, by calling 631-GoTU (4688), or at the gate.
For all Tulsa softball news and information, visit www.TulsaHurricane.com. Follow Tulsa Athletics on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/TulsaHurricane. Become a fan of the Tulsa Golden Hurricane page on Facebook - search "Tulsa Golden Hurricane."
