Photo courtesy of East Texas A&M
COMMERCE, Texas – SIUE softball freshman Avery Arwood went the distance and captured her first collegiate victory Friday as the Cougars downed Abilene Christian 6-1 at the Lion Invitational.
Arwood scattered five hits over seven innings and allows just one earned run. She struck out eight and walked two.
SIUE improved to 3-4 overall after earlier being defeated by Rutgers 9-3 at Cain Family Field.
The Cougars capitalized on Abilene Christian mistakes in the first inning. Both Kaylin Fahy and Piper Montgomery were hit by pitches with the bases loaded to put SIUE ahead 2-0. Raegan Duncan added an RBI single, and Jenna Little provided an RBI to make it 4-0.
Kaylynn Salyars, who had a team-leading three hits against Abilene Christian, added an RBI single in the fourth inning. Anna Henderson's sacrifice fly in the fourth concluded the scoring.
Salyars, who had two hits in the Rutgers game, leads the team with a .474 batting average.
SIUE's offense managed six hits in the Rutgers game. All of the offense came in the third inning. Lauren Yslava blasted a two-run triple in the third while Emma Henderson added a sacrifice fly.
SIUE and Rutgers face off once more Saturday in a 2:30 p.m. contest. The Cougars also are scheduled for a 7 p.m. start against host East Texas A&M.
