After a 7-3 loss to Houston on Tuesday that made it four losses in a row, the Sam Houston State softball team knew it had to come out and give a good performance in Wednesdays doubleheader against Louisiana Tech.For the most part, they did.The Lady Kats (9-8) split games with the Lady Bulldogs on a sloppy afternoon at the Bearkat Softball Complex. Sam Houston defeated Louisiana Tech 5-0 in game one before getting beat 2-0 in the finale.The game one win comes at a good time for Sam Houston, which was swept in a three-game series with rival Stephen F. Austin last weekend before Tuesdays Houston loss.I was very proud that we didnt quit or give up the season based on a bad stretch of three days, Lady Kat coach John Garris said after Wednesdays doubleheader. We lost four ball games in three days and it felt good to come out and win.Things started out relatively uneventful in Sam Houstons win over the Lady Bulldogs in game one. The Lady Kats put the first run on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fifth inning when Amber McAvoy, who pinch ran for Robin Pullen after a single, came home on an error.After a run by Jamie Tomsaini in the sixth, Jennifer Robertson put the game out of reach in the same inning with a three-run homerun, scoring McAvoy and Natalie Pruitt. The homerun was Robertsons first of the season and eleventh of her career.I was just looking for something good to hit, Robertson said. I was thinking that she was going to throw me a first-pitch strike so I was just looking to hit the ball hard somewhere. I wasnt looking to hit a homerun. It was the last thing I wanted to do. I just wanted to get a good hit.If you notice, she hit it solid, she hit it well, but she wasnt trying to hit it over there to Chilis or something… Garris said. Im just really proud of how she handled that situation and proud for her that she could do so well, get the homerun and make such a big impact in that win.Christin Thompson pitched a good game for the Lady Kats, throwing a complete game three-hitter and striking out two Lady Bulldog batters.The defense was really there today, the team was really up today for the game, Thompson said. We worked really hard. A big difference today was everybody and how hard we worked.When you look on the (SHSU) website, it tells you what a Bearkat actually is, Garris said. Its small, scrappy and it fights. Christin is definetly a Bearkat. We talked to our team yesterday about Lets come out here and scrap and claw and fight for seven innings in the first game and seven innings in the second game. Lets come out here and fight for the win, the coach added. Thats what she did.In the second game of the afternoon, Louisiana Techs Casey Reiff belted a two-run homerun off of Lady Kat pitcher Rachel Atzenhoffer in the fifth inning to provide the scoring in the Lady Bulldog win.Atzenhoffer pitched the first five innings, striking out one and giving up five hits. Aydrian Guajardo came on in the sixth and finished the game, striking out four and giving up three hits.April Hardwell went 2-for-3 in the finale. Pruitt and Ashlye Hylton provided Sam Houstons other two hits.We had a better effort throughout the whole day so while we werent satisfied with the result of the second game, we were satisfied with the effort in both games.The Lady Kats dont hit the field again until next Friday when they travel to play Southeastern Louisiana.We have four practice days next week and I think were just going to come back and keep working on the same stuff because everything were doing is right, Thompson said. Weve just go to, once we get on the field, do the stuff we do in practice.Theres nothing we need to change or anything, weve just got to make sure we get it down (so) when we get in the game, its automatic.
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