April 21, 2007

Box Score

HUNTSVILLE - Amy Krueger's RBI single in the top of the 10th inning broke a 1-1 tie to give the Bobcats a 2-1 game one win, but Texas State dropped game two 5-2 to earn a split at Sam Houston State on Saturday.

Texas State (25-20, 14-9) remains 1.5 games behind Sam Houston State (26-20, 13-7) in the SLC standings.

Game one's matchup of Ragan Blake and Brandi Crnkovic matched the SLC's two leaders in ERA and proved to be a pitchers duel, as the game remained scoreless through eight innings.

Both teams had opportunites to score, with the Bobcats leaving a runner at second base in the third, fourth and fifth innings while SHSU stranded runners at third in the fourth and eighth innings.

Jetta Weinheimer then broke the deadlock with a solo home run to center field in the top of the ninth off Crnkovic, but with two outs in the bottom of the inning the Bearkats refused to give up and tied it when Stephanie Mosley sent a pitch off the left field foul pole for a solo shot.

The international tie breaker went into effect the next inning with Tamara Keller being placed at second and moving to third on a sacrifice bunt by Ryan Kos. Krueger then came up and hit a fly ball that Amanda Lindsey lost in the sun and let drop in, scoring Keller for the eventual winning run.

SHSU did move a runner to third with one out in the bottom of the tenth, but a foul out to Keller and a swinging strikeout ended the game.

Blake struck out six in 10 innings, allowing a run on three hits while walking two to earn her 20th win of the season. Crnkovic also allowed one earned run in 10 innings on nine hits and two walks, striking out nine.

Game two featured the Bobcats' Megan Mikeska facing off against Morgan Mikulin in the circle, and the Bearkats jumped out a 1-0 advantage in the first inning on an RBI double by Sarah Parich.

The Bearkats again rallied and this time broke through with two runs on the fifth. Parich hit a line drive to left field with two outs that looked like an easy catch for Weinheimer, but the ball bounced out of her glove. It was ruled a two-run double to give SHSU the 3-2 lead.

That lead grew to 5-2 in the sixth when Lauren Burns lined a double over Tello in center to plate two more runs.

Mikulin shut the door the rest of the way, finishing with two unearned runs on three hits with seven strikeouts and no walks.

Blake took the loss to drop to 20-11, allowing three earned runs in two innings on four hits and two walks. Mikeska was also credited with two earned runs on five hits and three walks in four innings.

Texas State and Sam Houston State will close out the series with the rubber match on Sunday, April 22, at 1 p.m.