JACKSON, Miss. - The Blazers started the final regular season home series against American Southwest Conference opponent LeTourneau University with a doubleheader on Sunday, April 18. The Blazers and the YellowJackets split the doubleheader with the Blazers taking game one 4-3, while the YellowJackets took game two, 2-1.

GAME ONE

The Blazers started the scoring early in the game with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning as Marlee Blackwell drew a lead-off walk and Elizabeth Taggard followed that with a double. Kennedy Carruth then singled and reached second base on an error scoring both Blackwell and Taggard while giving the Blazers an early 2-0 lead. The Blazers added a single run in the bottom of the second as Abby Trahan crushed her first home run of the season to centerfield and increased the Blazers lead to 3-0.

The final run for the Blazers came in the bottom of the sixth as Allie Gordon led off the inning with a double, advanced to third on a passed ball, and then scored on a single by Cade Bass giving the Blazers a 4-0 lead. The YellowJackets scored three unearned runs in the top of the seventh, but a swinging strikeout ended the game with the tying run on third and sealed the 4-3 win for the Blazers.

Kennedy Carruth got the start in the circle for the Blazers and improved to 15-2 on the season. In the complete game effort, Carruth gave up three unearned runs on two hits, four walks, and ten strikeouts. The Blazers totaled eight hits in the contest with Kennedy Carruth and Allie Gordon grabbing two hits apiece, while Marlee Blackwell, Elizabeth Taggard, Cade Bass, and Abby Trahan had one hit each. Carruth led the team with two RBI, while Bass and Trahan had one RBI each.

GAME TWO

The second game of the doubleheader featured a pitching duel between the respective starters as each pitcher found ways to get out of potential scoring jams throughout the entire competition as the game went scoreless until the tenth inning. 

The YellowJackets and Blazers both had runners get to second base in the first inning, but neither could advance any further while the YellowJackets then had potential scoring threats in the second and third innings but Blazers starting pitcher, Bailey Root, slammed the door on both opportunities. The Blazers then had back-to-back three-up-and-three-down second and third innings. 

The Blazers and YellowJackets then only had three combined baserunners reach scoring position from the bottom of the fourth through the top of the eighth inning. The Blazers then had their best scoring of the game in the eighth inning as Haley Hanson led off with a single, stole second on a strikeout and advanced to third on an error during the play. However, an unsuccessful suicide squeeze bunt play ended with Hanson being called out and then a groundout ended the Blazers scoring threat.

The YellowJackets then had a runner advance to second base in the top of the ninth, but two strikeouts with a walk in between ended the inning, while the Blazers bottom of the ninth featured a two-out single by Allie Gordon, but was followed up with a strikeout to end the inning. 

The YellowJackets then scored two runs in the top of the tenth inning as international tiebreaker rules were applied to the contest allowing the last batted out to be placed as a runner at second base. The Blazers then scored their single run in the bottom half of the inning as Jovi Jones was brought in for a pinch run appearance for Kennedy Carruth as Cade Bass and Anna McNeer drew back-to-back walk to load the bases. Jones then scored on a groundout by Haley Hanson, while back-to-back popups ended the Blazers scoring threat and gave the YellowJackets a 2-1 win.

Bailey Root drew the start for the Blazers and fell to 6-3 on the season. Root pitched nine and two-thirds innings allowing two runs, one earned, on eight hits with six walks and nine strikeouts, while Kennedy Carruth pitched one-third of an inning in relief retiring the only batter she faced. The Blazers totaled five hits during the game as Allie Gordon led the way with three hits while Kennedy Carruth and Haley Hanson had one hit each. Hanson also had one RBI for the Blazers.

The Blazers are now 24-7 overall and 16-4 in ASC play.

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