ARLINGTON, TEXAS – The University of the Incarnate Word softball team dropped their final two games of the Maverick Invitational hosted by UT-Arlington on Saturday.  They lost to Sam Houston State, 5-2 in the morning and then 10-7 to Buffalo in extra innings in the afternoon at Allan Saxe Field.

In the opener against the Bearkats (2-6), the Cardinals fell behind 4-0 in the first three innings.  Dani Allen and Sarah Allison each hit solo homers in the bottom of the first inning to put them on top.  The Cardinals (1-9) cut the lead in half in the fourth inning on a two-run homer by Natalie Duron (Pasadena/Pasadena Memorial HS).

The Bearkats tacked on an insurance run in the sixth inning on back-to-back doubles by Jennie Kieval and Tiffany Castillo.  UIW put runners on second and third in the top of the seventh, but could not bring them in.  Jordan Franks picked up the win for Sam Houston State and Haley Baros came on in relief to pitch a pair of shutout innings to grab the save.  Sarah Leal (Kyle/Hays HS) was handed the loss for UIW.  Lindsey Hood (San Antonio/Smithson Valley HS) went 3-for-4 with a double for the Cardinals.

In the second game, the Cardinals dropped a heart-breaker to the Bulls (4-5) in extra innings.  It was a back-and-forth game that four lead changes.

The Cardinals opened the scoring with two runs in the bottom of the first inning.  The Bulls responded with five runs in the top of the second on five extra-base hits, including a two-run homer by Danielle Lallos.  UIW got two of the runs back in the bottom of the third inning on RBI singles by Alex Alonzo (San Antonio/Smithson Valley HS) and Alex Zepeda (Sinton/Sinton HS).

The Cardinals tied the game in the sixth inning on a single by Kristin Hebert (Humble/Atascocita HS).  Hebert later came around to score the go-ahead run on an illegal pitch.

The Bulls were able to tie the game in the top of the seventh inning.  Ashton Earnhardt led off with a single and later scored on a ground out by Lallos.  UIW was unable to score in the bottom of the seventh inning and the Bulls exploded for four runs in the eighth to put the game away.

The Cardinals finished with nine hits with Hebert and Alonzo each finishing with two hits apiece.  Hebert took the loss in the circle after allowing four earned runs in 6.0 innings of relief.

The Bulls pounded out 18 hits and had five players with at least two hits.  Earnhardt went 4-for-5 with two runs scored while Savanna Norcio and Hayley Barrow each had three hits.  Charlotte Miller picked up the win tossing 3.0 innings of relief.  She allowed two hits and two earned runs.

The Cardinals are back in action next Friday against Iowa State at 3 p.m. as part of a tournament hosted by UTSA.
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