Tulsa
25-11, 6-1
Houston
25-13, 2-5
Tulsa Sweeps Friday Doubleheader with Houston for Series Win
4/5/2019 9:25:00 PM | Softball
TULSA, Okla. – The Tulsa softball team claimed its third straight American Athletic Conference series win after sweeping a doubleheader against visiting Houston on Friday evening by scores of 10-6 and 3-1 at Collins Family Softball Complex.
TU now has won seven consecutive conference games after opening league play with an extra-inning setback at preseason favorite USF on March 29.
The Golden Hurricane (26-11, 7-1) will look for the sweep over the Cougars (25-14, 2-6) in the series finale at 2 p.m. on Saturday in a game that will be broadcast on the American Digital Network.
Game One
Julia Hollingsworth broke a 4-4 tie with a three-run homer in the bottom of the fourth as Tulsa took the series opener, 10-6.
The Hurricane pounded out 12 hits in the contest, including a season-high three hits for Chenise Delce, who also earned the win in the circle to improve to 11-4. Morgan Neal ripped her 12th double of the spring to drive in a pair, while Samantha Pochop picked up her fourth save with three solid innings of relief.
Tulsa got on the board first with a run in the second before the Cougars grabbed a 2-1 lead an inning later.
TU took the lead with four straight hits as Mikayla Whitten and Neal each doubleld before a Delce single and an RBI grounder off the bat of Haley Meinen made it 4-2.
Houston knotted the score in the top of the fourth, but Hollingsworth put the home squad ahead for good with her three-run homer, which was her first round-tripper of the spring. In the fifth, Tulsa tacked on insurance runs with back-to-back doubles from Rylie Spell and Tori Stafford to extend the cushion to 9-4.
Tulsa answered a run by the Cougars with one more in the sixth for the final margin, 10-6.
Game Two
After yielding a run in the first, Kassidy Scott tossed six scoreless frames and Tulsa benefitted from five Houston errors to take game two, 3-1, and win the series.
Chenise Delce went 2-for-3 with a pair of RBIs to help back her fellow pitcher, who gave up just one run on four hits over her seven frames to improve to 6-2 on the campaign.
After the Cougars took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, Scott did not allow a runner to safely advance past second base and the Golden Hurricane offense went to work in the bottom of the third to grab the lead for good.
Tori Stafford got the rally going with a one-out double to left center before two Cougars errors loaded the bases. Morgan Neal walked to pick up her third RBI of the day and Delce plated two more with a double to left-center and a 3-1 advantage.
Scott did the rest for TU as she allowed just one hit and two baserunners over the final three innings for the victory.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Delce, Chenise (11-4)
L: MELANCON, Trystan (6-3)
S: Pochop, Samantha (4)
Batting:
HR: WILLIAMS, Tierrah 1 ; VANNOY, Brooke 1
RBI: QUEEN, Sarah 2 ; THOMAS, Maya 1 ; WILLIAMS, Tierrah 2 ; VANNOY, Brooke 1
SH: MONTGOMERY, Kelli 1 ; BARKER, Sarah 1
Base Running:
RUNS: BARKER, Sarah 2 ; BURTON, Brianna 1 ; WILLIAMS, Tierrah 1 ; VANNOY, Brooke 2
HBP: JAMES, Arielle 2 ; BURTON, Brianna 1
Batting:
2B: Whitten, Mikayla 1 ; Neal, Morgan 1 ; Spell, Rylie 1 ; Stafford, Tori 1
HR: Hollingsworth, Julia 1
RBI: Hollingsworth, Julia 3 ; Neal, Morgan 2 ; Meinen, Haley 1 ; Perry, Alexis 1 ; Spell, Rylie 1 ; Stafford, Tori 1
SF: Perry, Alexis 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Hollingsworth, Julia 2 ; Whitten, Mikayla 1 ; Neal, Morgan 1 ; MUFFLEY, Josie 1 ; Meinen, Haley 1 ; Briers, Sarah 1 ; Spell, Rylie 1 ; Smith, Jesse 1 ; Stafford, Tori 1
SB: MUFFLEY, Josie 1 ; Briers, Sarah 1
HBP: Briers, Sarah 1
