April 6, 2008
Box Score
ARLINGTON, Texas - Sophomore Cara Hulme took a no-hitter into the seventh inning and senior Amanda Swofford belted her third homer of the series as UT Arlington completed a three-game sweep of McNeese State with a 4-2 victory Sunday in Southland Conference softball action.
The Mavericks (18-16, 12-9 SLC) extended their winning streak to six games and made up some ground in the conference standings. They outscored the Cowgirls (15-28, 8-10) 24-3 and outhit them 25-8 during the three-game series at Allan Saxe Field.
Swofford gave UTA a 1-0 lead with a leadoff home run to left field in the second inning. It was the shortstop's third consecutive at-bat with a home run and her team-leading ninth round-tripper of the season. The Mavericks added another run in the inning when senior April Clougherty singled to left-center, stole second, advanced to third on a single by sophomore Heather Fortenberry and scored on a wild pitch by Bethany Stefinsky (3-7).
UTA extended its lead to 3-0 in the sixth inning with an RBI double down the left field line by senior Amanda Brown. Sophomore Brittany Washington, running for Brown, came around to score on a single to center field by senior Brittany Stevens to make it 4-0.
Hulme (10-4) lost her no-hit bid in the seventh inning with a leadoff double to left-center field by Rachel King. She lost her shutout when Molly Guidry followed with a double to the same spot. Katie Shumaker singled down the right-field line to drive home Guidry and bring the potential tying run to the plate, but Hulme got three straight outs to finish it.
Hulme struck out seven and walked four in seven innings. Swofford was 2-for-3, Stevens was 2-for-3 with a stolen base and Clougherty was 2-for-2 with a steal.
The Mavericks return to action with a three-game Southland Conference series at Texas A&M Corpus Christi next weekend, starting with a doubleheader Saturday at 1 p.m. UTA has won six of its last seven games against the Islanders.
