Complete Box Scores
Game 1     Game 2

CEDAR HILL, Texas - The Texas Wesleyan softball team began Red River Conference play on Friday, traveling to Cedar Hill for a doubleheader against Northwood University. Both games were extremely close, but in the end, a pair of Wesleyan errors in each game proved to be the difference as the Lady Rams fell 4-2 and 3-0.

Game 1: Northwood broke a scoreless tie in the third. A two-out fielding error by shortstop Shannon Gower allowed the Knights to load the bases, and the next batter singled, bringing home two unearned runs.

The Lady Rams struck in the top of the fourth. Danah Merck led off with a single, but was forced out at second when Monica Barrilleaux hit into a fielder’s choice. Kashuba then replaced Barrilleaux at first by hitting into another fielder’s choice. With two outs, Jennifer Perez ripped a double, and Kashuba scored to cut the lead to 2-1.

Northwood scored two more runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. After a one-out double by Chrishina Maull, Lacey Manning homered on an 0-1 fastball to give the Knights a 4-1 lead.

Wesleyan scored their final run in the seventh. Michelle Perez and Gower hit back-to-back two-out singles, then Perez came home as part of a double steal. On the next pitch, Stephanie Rice popped out to the catcher to end the game.

Amanda Kashuba pitched a complete game but was saddled with the loss, giving up four runs (two earned) and seven hits in six innings. Abbey Prince threw seven innings to get the win for Northwood.

The Lady Rams were paced offensively by Jennifer Perez who went 2-3 with a double and an RBI. Shannon Gower also had two hits for Wesleyan.

Game 2: Again, an early Wesleyan error led to unearned runs. In the bottom of the first, a fielding error on an attempted sacrifice bunt left Northwood runners at first and second with no outs. After a walk to the next batter, Lacey Manning singled in a run. That was followed by a Jaimie Mitchell single, which scored another run, giving the Knights a quick 2-0 lead.

There would be no scoring again until the bottom of the sixth, when Northwood added a third and final run on a Brooke Patterson RBI single, winning the game 3-0.

Monica Barrilleaux took the loss for Wesleyan, pitching six innings and giving up three runs (two earned) on nine hits. Shana Moore went the distance to get the win for Northwood.

Monica Barrilleaux and Stephanie Rice led the offensive attack for the Lady Rams in Game two, connecting for four of the team’s six hits. Barrilleaux went 2-3 with a triple, and Rice added two singles.

The Lady Rams drop to 4-9 on the season, and are 0-2 in RRAC play. The team returns to action on Saturday, taking on Midland Lutheran in a doubleheader at 1 PM.