CONWAY, Ark. - Hendrix dropped all three games of its series with top-25 St. Thomas to open conference play.
Game 1 (L, 9-1)
Hendrix was unable to capitalize on an early lead as the Celts roared back to score nine unanswered runs and end the game early in a 9-1 run-rule win.
Emma Salis worked around a lead-off walk in the top of the first to retire the side and pitch a scoreless frame.
The Warriors loaded the bases in the bottom of the first, and
Austynn Caudle singled in
Emerson Naismith for the game's first run. Naismith had kept the inning alive by putting the ball into play with two outs and inducing a throwing error by the Celts shortstop.
Salis delivered another scoreless frame in the second and looked good in the third as well until the Celts tied the game on a two-out single. St. Thomas took the lead in the fourth with a lead-off solo shot and then plated two more runs in that frame to take a 5-1 lead. The Cetls scored one more in the next inning and then three in the sixth to set up the run-rule opportunity. The Warriors went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the sixth, unable to keep the game alive.
Game 2 (L, 13-7)
The Warriors dropped the series in the first half of Friday's doubleheader but did not go down without a fight, scoring their most runs of the series and making the game competitive after going down 6-0 early.
Bell Jaramillo singled in
Alyssa Sornia in the third to put the Warriors on the board, and then put a three-spot in the fourth to cut the lead to two.
Tori Maldonado worked a lead-off walk to start the inning and then advanced to second after
Peyton Frady singled to right field. The runners moved up 60 feet on a sacrifice bunt by
Emmaline Trosclair, and Maldonado was then singled in by Sornia. Frady scored on the next at-bat on a wild pitch, and Sornia scored her second run of the game on yet another RBI single from Jaramillo. The Celts scored three runs in the next half inning to push their lead to 9-4, but Hendrix got back into the game in the sixth with a two-out, 3-RBI double from
Emerson Naismith. The Celts eventually saw off the game with a four-spot in the final inning.
Sadie Lewis was electric out of the bullpen, striking out a career-high nine hitters in 6.0 innings of relief work.
Game 3 (L, 9-5)
Hendrix drew first blood for the second time in the series as
Tori Maldonado scored the first run of the series after
Alyssa Sornia forced another fielding error by putting the ball into play. The Celts took a 3-1 lead in the third-inning, but Hendrix tied it up in the next half inning. Maldonado grounded out to shortstop but scored
Bell Jaramillo on the play. Frady then singled in Naismith to tie the game at 3-3. The Celts retook the lead in the fourth with two runs and added another in the fifth to make it 6-3. Naismith scored her second run of the game in the home half of the fifth on a Maldonado single, and Caudle then singled to left field to bring in
Julia Hayes, who had pinch-run for
Kaycee Schoen. But Hendrix was unable to bring in the tying run, which was left stranded in scoring position, and the visitors made the Warriors pay with a three-run shot in the top half of the 7th. Hendrix loaded the bases in the bottom of the inning and brought the tying run to the plate but were unable to convert on the opportunity.
