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.
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TU now has won seven consecutive conference games after opening league play with an extra-inning setback at preseason favorite USF on March 29.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Tulsa got on the board first with a run in the second before the Cougars grabbed a 2-1 lead an inning later.
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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.
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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.
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Tulsa answered a run by the Cougars with one more in the sixth for the final margin, 10-6.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Scott did the rest for TU as she allowed just one hit and two baserunners over the final three innings for the victory.
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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
