MONROE, La. - Brianna Love hit a two-run home
run and Tiffany Mills struck out eight, as the ULM softball team downed Stephen
F. Austin, 3-2, on Wednesday afternoon in a non-conference game. The victory
was the fifth straight for the Warhawks.
Stephen F. Austin tallied a pair of runs in the
opening inning off Mills, before she settled down and struck out a pair of
batters in three different innings. The Ladyjacks nearly expanded their lead in
the fourth inning, but a wild throw from the ULM outfield hit a Stephen F.
Austin on-deck batter for an out. The Warhawks worked their way out of the frame
with a groundout and a pickoff.
After Love reached base twice on walks, which
was her 10th consecutive base on balls, she belted her team-leading eighth home
run in the fifth inning to give ULM (21-17) the victory.
The Warhawks had four different players
record a base hit in the win, while Love scored twice and drove in two runs.
Roxy Cassel and Janel Salanoa each recorded a sacrifice bunt in the contest.
Mills (7-6) earned the victory after throwing
her ninth complete game of the season. She allowed two earned runs on six hits
and finished with no walks.
Stephen F. Austin (24-13) saw six different
players record a base hit, while Bethany Brown and Kayla Gutowski scored a run
apiece. Briana Bishop and Gutowski also drove in a run for the Ladyjacks.
Stephen F. Austin began the game with a hot
bat, as it tallied two singles and a double - all to right-center field. Gutowski
and Bishop each recorded an RBI in the inning, as the Ladyjacks to an early 2-0
lead in the first inning.
The Warhawks responded in their half of the
frame with a run to cut the deficit to 2-1. Love led off the lineup with a
walk, before Sarah Carriger hit a slap single up the middle. Cassel followed
with a sacrifice bunt, previous to Salanoa's RBI sacrifice bunt.
Love's bomb in the fifth inning was off a 0-1 pitch that turned a one-run Warhawk
deficit into a one-run lead, 3-2. Amanda Sartoris also scored on the long ball
after earning a base on balls.
Angela White (12-6) was tagged with the loss
after giving up three earned runs on two hits. She struck out four and walked
four in the loss.
ULM will finish its home portion of the
schedule on Friday and Saturday with a three-game Sun Belt Conference series against
Florida Atlantic. Both teams will play in a doubleheader on Friday, which begins
at 5 p.m., before finishing the series on Saturday at 11 a.m. Prior to Saturday's
contest Kandace Causey and Michelle Farrell-Fink will be honored for their outstanding
four-year careers.
