STEPHENVILLE, Texas – Heading on the road in non-conference midweek competition, UTSA softball (6-19) traveled to Tarleton (15-13) on Tuesday at the Tarleton Softball Complex, dropping a 4-3 tilt with the Texans in the first extra innings contest this season.
The race to score first turned out to be a half-marathon, as a defensive shootout ensued in the first third of Tuesday's non-conference contest. The Roadrunners and Texans left a combined five runners stranded through the first three frames. Junior shortstop Kat Ibarra flashed her defensive skills several times in that stretch, including an unassisted double play and climbing the ladder to rob Tarleton of a sure line drive over the left side.
However, it wasn't until the fourth when UTSA finally captured its first hit, and the shift in gear happened in an instant. Freshman right fielder Lilly Hood lifted the first pitch of the fourth into the left center alleyway and then senior designated player Marena Estell pulled a long drive down the right line for the RBI and the UTSA lead at 1-0 with Hood safely home. Sophomore third baseman Camryn Robillard dropped a Texas Leaguer into shallow left to plate Estell. Rounding out the scoring effort, grad transfer second baseman Sammy Dees dropped an RBI single into right center, sending Taylor Jensen home for the 3-0 lead.
Quick to counter, former UTSA player Brittany Coe was the one to take back the first run for Tarleton in the bottom of the fourth, sending a double into left center to cut UTSA's advantage down to 3-1.
The Texans began to make their move in the bottom of the sixth and knotted the score at 3-all off a Tristyn Trull RBI double and Austin Germain sacrifice fly.
In the top of the seventh, UTSA only saw Sammy Dees with a single, but pitcher Reagan Smith knocked down all three outs on swinging strikeouts in the home half – sending UTSA to the first extra innings of the season.
She wasn't so fortunate on the second pass, as a Kayla Wallace leadoff doubled proved crucial toward Morgan Medford's RBI single, delivering a 4-3 walk-off win for Tarleton in the eighth.
Dees went 2-for-3 with an RBI to lead the six batters accounting for UTSA's seven hits.
The Roadrunners used three pitchers against the Texans and forced Tarleton to strand 11 runners aboard, with only four runs to show for 14 hits. For UTSA, Smith (3-7) takes the loss, throwing the final 2.1 innings with a season-best four strikeouts and no walks. Taking the win for Tarleton, Kennedy Ferguson (4-3) tossed the final 4.1 innings, allowing three hits and no runs.
Next up, UTSA will spend the weekend in Denton for its second Conference USA series, at defending league champion North Texas (16-9). The UNT Mean Green swept a doubleheader with Texas A&M-Commerce on Tuesday.
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