RICHARDSON, Texas - The Belhaven University Softball team returned to American Southwest Conference play with a road series against the University of Texas at Dallas starting with a doubleheader on Friday, April 9. The Blazers hit seven home runs over the doubleheader sweep of the Comets taking game one by a final of 13-3 and game two with a 14-4 final.

GAME ONE

The Blazers wasted no time scoring in the first inning as Marlee Blackwell and Elizabeth Taggard crushed back-to-back solo home runs (Blackwells's third and Taggard's fifth of the season) to start the game en route to a ten-run first inning. Kennedy Carruth then followed with a single but was forced out as Allie Gordon reached on a fielder's choice. Cade Bass then singled while both Gordon and Bass later advanced to third and second on a wild pitch. Gordon then scored on a single by Anna McNeer, who later stole second, while Haley Hanson drew a walk to load the bases. Alayna Adams was hit by the pitcher scoring Bass, while McNeer scored as Abby Trahan drew a walk making the score 5-0 for the Blazers. Marlee Blackwell reached on a fielder's choice as Hanson was forced out at home, and then Adams and Trahan scored on a single by Taggard. Carruth then took one swing of the bat as she smashed her third home run of the season scoring Taggard and Blackwell and giving the Blazers a 10-0 lead.

The Blazers plated a solo run in the third inning as Alayna Adams was once again hit by the pitcher and then was forced out as Abby Trahan reached on a fielder's choice. Trahan later scored on a double by Elizabeth Taggard increasing the Blazers lead to 11-0. The final two runs for the Blazers came in the fourth as Allie Gordon started off reaching base on an error and then Cade Bass cranked her sixth home run of the season scoring Gordon and making the Blazers lead 13-0. The Comets three runs came in the bottom of the fifth but a line out with the bases loaded sealed the 13-3 win for the Blazers.

Kennedy Carruth got the start in the circle for the Blazers and improved to 13-2 with the win. Carruth allowed one hit in three innings pitched and struck out eight of the ten batters she faced. Abby Prescott pitched one inning of relieg allowing one hit, while Dallas Blaker pitched one inning of relief allowing three unearned runs on two hits and two walks. The Blazers tallied 11 hits during the contest led by Elizabeth Taggard who went 3-for-3, while Kennedy Carruth and Cade Bass added two hits apiece, with Marlee Blackwell, Elizabeth Platt, Anna McNeer, and Marissa Rice all had one hit each. Taggard also led the team in RBI with four, Carruth had three during the contest, while Bass had two with Blackwell, McNeer, Adams, and Trahan having one RBI apiece.

GAME TWO

The Blazers fell behind early in game two as the Comets plated their first two runs in the bottom of the first inning taking a 2-0 lead. However, the Blazers responded with a five-run second inning to take the lead and never looked back. Anna McNeer led off the inning by blasting her second home run of the season cutting the lead to 2-1 while Abby Trahan followed that with a single. Macy Brabham and Carley Ingle then reached on back-to-back errors as Trahan scored to tie the game at 2-2. Brabham later scored on a sacrifice fly by Elizabeth Taggard while Ingle scored on a double by Kennedy Carruth. Carruth then scored on single by Allie Gordon giving the Blazers a 5-2 lead.

The Blazers added a pair of runs in the third inning as Anna McNeer hit a lead-off single and then stole second followed by Abby Trahan drawing a walk. Macy Brabham then reached on an error as McNeer scored on the play and advancing Trahan to third. Trahan then scored on a sacrifice bunt by Carley Ingle giving the Blazers a 7-2 lead. A three-run fourth inning increased the Blazers lead to 10-2 as Allie Gordon and Cade Bass hit back-to-back singles to start the inning. Both Gordon and Bass then scored on a double by Anna McNeer, who then scored on a single by Abby Trahan.

The Comets plated solo runs in the fourth and sixth inning to cut the Blazers lead to 10-4. However, the Blazers responded with four runs in the seventh inning as Marlee Blackwell hit her second lead-off solo home run of the day, her third of the season, while Elizabeth Taggard was then hit by the pitcher. Taggard then advanced to second as Alayna Adams reached on an error. Taggard and Adams then scored as Marissa Rice took one swing of the bat and blasted her first home run of the season giving the Blazers a 14-4 lead. A three-up-and-three-down bottom of the seventh wrapped up the 14-4 victory for the Blazers and the sweep of the doubleheader.

Bailey Root got the start in the circle for the Blazers and improved to 6-2 with the win. Root allowed three runs in four innings pitched on five hits and four walks with five strikeouts. Jovi Jones pitched three innings of relief allowing one run on three hits with one strikeout. The Blazers tallied 15 hits as Anna McNeer and Abby Trahan led the way as both went 3-for-3 during the contest. Marlee Blackwell, Elizabeth Taggard, and Allie Gordon had two hits apiece, while Kennedy Carruth, Cade Bass, and Marissa Rice had one hit each. McNeer and Rice led the team in RBI with three each while Blackwell, Taggard, Carruth, Gordon, Trahan, and Carley Ingle had one RBI each.

The Blazers improve to 22-6 overall and 14-3 in ASC play and will return to action with the third game of their series against the Comets on Saturday, April 10. The action is scheduled to start at 12 p.m.

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