Tulsa
East Carolina
Big Hits lead Tulsa to Doubleheader Wins over East Carolina
3/17/2012 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 17, 2012
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TULSA, Okla. - Skylar Swanson's 10th-inning walk-off home run in the 5-2 game one win, and a 12-run second inning in the 13-4 game two win, gave Tulsa a Conference USA doubleheader sweep of East Carolina Saturday at the Collins Family Softball Complex.
With the score tied, 2-2, in the bottom of the 10th, Swanson hit a towering shot to center field to push the Golden Hurricane (18-6, 4-1 C-USA) past the Pirates (10-16, 0-2 C-USA) in game one. Lacey Middlebrooks (7-2) pitched all 10.0 innings to earn the win for TU.
East Carolina scored two runs in the top of the first inning of game two, but the Hurricane exploded with 12 runs in the bottom of the second inning, and went on to win 13-4 (5 inn.). Aimee Creger (8-2) struck out seven batters with one walk and five hits in 4.0 innings to earn the win.
Tulsa ended the day with 18 runs on 21 hits and played errorless ball in the doubleheader. Six of those hits went for extra bases - including three homers and three doubles - four of which came in the second game.
"I thought Lacey had a gutsy performance out there," Tulsa Head Coach John Bargfeldt said. "She just made one mistake on that home run. But, she gave a gutsy performance, keeping us there until we could figure it out and get some runs across. The hitters took a long time to adjust to their pitcher. A few of them did, and that seemed to be when we were scoring runs. That's the type of game you usually run into in conference play. One of the three games is usually a nail-biter. It shows a lot of character when you hang in there and find a way to win.
"The second game was something you just don't see happen very often, putting up a 12-run inning. It was great to see our hitters restart it and just keep it going. The conditions (with the wind blowing out) were not really good for a fly ball pitcher with Aimee out there, so it was good to put that big offensive explosion up there."
East Carolina got on the board in the first inning of game one with a pair of runs on a double by Suzanne Riggs. Creger struck out the final batter of the first inning and all three batters in the second inning on her way to retiring seven straight Pirate hitters.
Tulsa responded in the second with a 12-run explosion, fueled by nine hits, two home runs, two errors, two walks and a hit-by-pitch. Swanson led off the inning with a home run to center field to cut the lead to 2-1.
Middlebrooks, the designated player in game two, followed with a walk, and Shelby Blanton doubled to put runners at second and third. Jessica Stoelke was hit by a pitch to load the bases, and Cassidy Bowen followed with a single, scoring Middlebrooks and Blanton. The throw from the outfield to the plate got away from the catcher, allowing Stoelke - who had moved to third on the hit - to score, and Bowen to end up on third base.
With runners at the corners, Cierra Hughes reached on a fielding error by the second baseman, and Caitlin Everett singled to deep short, scoring Bowen and putting runners at first and second. Jill Barrett loaded the bases with a bunt single and Everett came home on a wild pitch. Hughes scored the sixth run on an RBI ground out by Samantha Cobb, which was the first out of the inning.
Swanson drew a walk in her second plate appearance of the frame, and was followed by an RBI single by Middlebrooks that scored Barrett. After a fly out, Stoelke singled to score Swanson. Bowen, who had five RBI in the second inning alone, followed with a three-run home run to left field to extend the TU lead to 12-2. Hughes doubled down the right field line and Everett flew out to right to end the inning.
After allowing the two runs in the first, Creger cruised until the fourth inning when East Carolina scored a pair of runs on a two-run homer by Riggs. The ECU left fielder drove in all four Pirate runs in the game.
Tulsa added one more run in the fourth inning when Hughes' single up the middle drove home Blanton, who was hit by a pitch to lead off the frame.
Kalynn Schrock entered the circle in the fifth inning in relief of Creger and retired the side to close out the victory.
Tulsa 5, East Carolina 2 (10 inn.)
Skylar Swanson hit a three-run walk-off home run in the 10th inning to give Tulsa a 5-2 win over East Carolina in game one of Saturday's doubleheader.
Lacey Middlebrooks (7-2) pitched all 10.0 innings to earn the win for the Golden Hurricane. Sarah Christian (8-9) also went the distance and took the loss for the Pirates.
Click here for the full recap.
The third and final game of the series will be played at noon Sunday at the Collins Family Softball Complex.
Tickets to TU home softball games are $5.00 general admission and can be purchased at the gate. Youth softball girls are admitted FREE when wearing their team jersey/uniform.
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Tulsa 13, East Carolina 4 (Mar 17, 2012 at Tulsa, Okla.) (Game 2) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- East Carolina....... 20 0 20 - 4 5 2 (10-16, 0-2) Tulsa............... 0(12)0 1X - 13 11 0 (18-6, 4-1) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Pitchers: East Carolina - SMITH, Courtney and CLARK, Kai. Tulsa - Creger, Aimee; SCHROCK, Kalynn(5) and Bowen, Cassidy. Win-CREGER, Aimee(8-2) Loss-SMITH, Courtney(2-7) T-1:30 A-360 HR ECU - RIGGS, Suzanne (5). HR TLS - Swanson, Skylar (6); Bowen, Cassidy (2).
