East Central University Athletics

Softball Falls in Final Games of Southeastern Regional Invitational

2/4/2018 2:49:00 PM

DURANT, OKLA. – The East Central University softball team dropped its final two games at the 2018 Southeastern Regional Invitational in the opening weekend of action for the season.  The Tigers first fell 10-6 to Tarleton State and then fell just short to Pittsburg State, 6-5.

The Tigers (2-4) were led by junior Breecia Crawford, with a .500 average, two hits and a run.  Sophomore Catherine Barrera added a .429 average, three hits, one run and two RBIs.

Sophomore Caitlin Kneblik and freshman Angel Stoker earned the starts in the circle for ECU.  Kneblik threw 5.0 innings, allowed nine hits and six runs, with one strike out.  Stoker added 4.2 innings, seven hits and six runs allowed and a K.

ECU will be off until Friday, Feb. 10-11 when they head to Edmond, Okla., for the UCO/OC Festival.  The Tigers will play four games in the two days, staring with an 11 a.m. game against Central Oklahoma and a 2 p.m. battle with Oklahoma Christian, Feb. 10.  ECU will also face Washburn (12 p.m.) and Northeastern State (3 p.m.), Saturday, Feb. 11.

Pittsburg State 6, ECU 5
The teams were scoreless through the first inning, before the Gorillas (2-3) got a run across the plate in the second for a 1-0 lead.

The Tigers quickly tied the game at one in the third on a single and stolen base by junior Aundrea Hamric and a single from senior Alissa Taylor.

However, PSU took control of the scoreboard with a run in the third, one in the fourth and three in the fifth for a 6-1 advantage.

The sixth inning is when ECU's bats came alive, as senior Claresha Clemons, junior Ellanee Allison and Barrera hit back-to-back-to-back home runs to start the inning and cut the deficit to 6-4.

It looked like the Tigers would be able to make a come-back in the seventh, as junior Demi Danell led off the inning with the teams fourth home run of the game.  However, besides a single from Clemons the rest of the batters in the inning struck out for the 6-5 loss.

Tarleton State 10, ECU 6
The Tigers were the first to get on the board, scoring two runs in the bottom of the first inning.  Taylor started the game with a triple and went home when Clemons reach due to an error.  A second error put Allison on base with Clemons, allowing the final RBI to be sent around on a triple from Barrera.

The Texanns (5-0) tied the game in the top of the second, with two runs on two hits.  TSU then took the lead with three runs in the fourth (5-2) and pushed the advantage to 9-2, with four runs in the sixth.

ECU countered with four runs of its own in the sixth to cut the lead to 9-6.  Crawford singled before the first two outs were recorded.  Junior Bridget Gleason then singled and junior Chloe Wigington was hit by a pitch to load the bases. 

Hamric sent the first two runs across the plate with a double and the final two scored when Taylor reached due to an error.

The Texanns then added one more run in the seventh for the 10-6 final.