Softball | 4/7/2024 8:42:00 PM

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 DENTON, Texas (April 7, 2024) – On Sunday afternoon, the Texas Woman's softball team split the doubleheader with Eastern New Mexico.

The day at Dianne Baker field featured almost everything from a grand slam to a nail-biting 11 inning game. TWU (18-24, 16-16) recorded the game one win against ENMU (21-19, 14-19) 9-3. Then, the Pioneers fell in game two, 6-3, after 11 innings of play.

TWU started off game one on Sunday with explosive offense at Dianne Baker Field.

The Pioneers would score nine runs in the opening game of the series to defeat ENMU, 9-3. The nine runs would tie the Pioneers' most runs score in a game this season, as they scored nine in their season opener on Feb. 2 in the win over Colorado Mesa.

After three innings, the Pioneers trailed 3-0. Then, TWU exploded in the bottom of the third inning to turn the tides.

In the bottom of the third inning, Callie Bailey set the tone in the lead-off spot for the Pioneers. She opened the inning with a double down the left field line.

Despite getting two quick outs, Alyssa LeBlanc flied out to right field and Bailey advance to third.

TWU answered the call as they faced two outs in the bottom of the third.Elizabeth Smith drew the walk to get on first base. Then, Smith and Bailey took advantage of a miscue by the Greyhounds. On a passed ball, Smith advanced to second, and Bailey scored to record TWU's first run of the game.

Then, Delaney Boley continued to build on the momentum of the Pioneers. She got hit by a pitch to take first. With Boley on first, Piper Morton faced a full count and took a ball to walk to first.

Bases loaded – Smith on third, Boley on second and Piper Morton on first – Makana Morton faced a full 3-2 count. Then, with ice in her veins, Morton crushed the pitch over the left field wall to record the first grand slam of her career. With Morton's four RBIs, the Pioneers flipped the script and closed the third inning with the 5-3 advantage.

TWU would hold the Greyhounds scoreless for the remainder of the game.

While their defense remained in lockdown mode, the Pioneers would knock in four more runs over the course of the next three innings.

In the fifth inning, Smith opened the inning with a walk. Then, after two outs, the Pioneers followed the same script as the third inning and opened the scoring. Makana Morton hit a single to get on first and advance Smith to third base. Then, Makana Morton stole second with Lauryn Davies up to bat. The catcher overthrew second, which allowed Smith to come in and score to increase the Pioneers' lead to three, 6-3.

After Davies drew a walk, Vivica Hernandez stepped into the batter's box. With two strikes and two balls on the board, Hernandez hit a double to center field to record two RBIs, as Davies and Makana Morton both scored. TWU closed the fifth inning with the 8-3 advantage over the Greyhounds.

LeBlanc put the exclamation point on the win for the Pioneers in the bottom of the sixth inning, as she hit her fifth home run of the season to seal the 9-3 win for TWU.

The Pioneers finished with nine hits and no errors, while ENMU committed four errors in the first game. Makana Morton led the way for TWU with three hits on the afternoon.

LeBlanc (10-10) pitched all seven innings for the Pioneers. She threw eight strikeouts in her 10th win of the season.

With the two home runs in the win, it marked the Pioneers' fifth game of the season with more than one home run in a game.

After the high offensive energy in the first game, the Pioneers entered game two looking to build on the momentum from the first.

The Greyhounds started off the second game with a run in the top of the second to take the early 1-0 lead.

TWU answered in the fourth inning. Ciana Rodriguez hit her first career triple; then, she was batted in by LeBlanc to score the tying run, 1-1.

ENMU would go up 2-1 in the top of the fifth, but the Pioneers had another answer in them.Makana Morton opened the inning with a single up the middle. She would advance to second on a bunt by Piper Morton. Then, she would cross home after an RBI single by Abigail Long – her second career RBI – as the Pioneers tied the game up once again 2-2.

In the sixth and the seventh inning, the Pioneers defense would force the Greyhounds to go three up – three down in back-to-back innings.

TWU could not find the go-ahead run in regulation, so the game went into extra innings knotted at two.

ENMU, in the first at-bat of the eighth inning, hit a home run to left field to take the early lead, 3-2.

After holding the Greyhounds to just one run in the top of the eight, Hawwa Townsend would enter to pinch hit in the bottom of the eighth. With a 1-1 count, Townsend crushed a home run over left field to record her first career home run in exciting fashion and tied the game, 3-3.

Unable to piece together the winning run in the bottom of the eighth, the Pioneers and Greyhounds would battle it out for two more innings, before ENMU scored three runs in the top of the 11th to go ahead 6-3.

With a chance to answer in the bottom of the 11th, Smith got on base with a single, but the Pioneers were unable to record a run, as they fell in game two, 6-3.

Jaycie Hall (4-7) pitched all 11 innings for the Pioneers, throwing 155 pitches. She threw six strikeouts in the game.

TWU finished with seven hits in game two. Rodriguez led TWU with two hits.

TWU will wrap-up the series with the Greyhounds tomorrow morning, as first pitch of game three is slated for 10:30 a.m.