Abby Cousins made history Wednesday becoming the first woman in UTPB Softball history to throw a perfect game. The freshman retired all 15 batters she faced in a 10-0 win over University of the Southwest. Cousins retired 11 batters on fly outs and the other four on the ground. It was a part of a doubleheader sweep of the Mustangs. The Falcons won the first game 9-3 before Cousins' perfect game in the second game.
The Falcons (15-15) won the second game behind the dominant pitching of Cousins, but the offense picked her up late. They got on the board in the second inning.
Savanah Medina singled to start things off and moved to second on an error.
Alicia Marion's single brought her in for the 1-0 lead. Things stayed that way until the fourth, when the Falcon offense broke out. Medina followed an
Ashlynn Bradley single with one of her own to start the inning. Marion drove them both in with a double to extend the lead to 3-0. She came around to score on a ground ball by
April Arellano to extend the lead. Later in the inning,
Jessica Gonzales scored on a single by
Marissa Salinas for the 5-0 lead.
Cousins was in control all afternoon and the Falcons erupted for five runs in the fifth. Bradley brought in
Sydney Bishop on a triple to left, and then scored on a single by Medina. Medina came around to score on a double by Arellano, also scoring Marion for the 9-0 lead. Arellano herself scored on a ground ball by Gonzales for the final run of the game. Cousins did her job in the bottom half of the inning to complete the perfect game.
The Falcons took the opening game of the day 9-3. The offense scored a pair in the first on a ground ball by Gonzales and a sac fly by Salinas. The Mustangs scored one in the third, but the Falcons responded.
Leslie Martinez scored on an error for the 3-1 lead. Bradley added a two-run single in the fifth for a pair of insurance runs.
Lani Graft drove in Arellano on a triple in the sixth and came in to scored on a single by
Choco Munoz. The Falcons finished the game with two runs in the seventh.
The Falcons had 15 hits in the first game. Bradley,
Aracely Araiza, Martinez and
Alyssa Lopez each had a pair of hits and seven starters had hits. Marion and Medina had three hits each in the second game.
The Falcons return home next week to take on Western New Mexico on Wednesday.
