NACOGDOCHES, Texas – The Mavericks used a shutout to advance to the NISC Nacogdoches Semifinal game, defeating host Stephen F. Austin 5-0 on Thursday night.  With the win, the Mavericks advance to play McNeese State at 3 p.m. Friday at the SFA Softball Field.
 
"Our pitchers did really well today," head coach Peejay Brun said. "They worked really hard to fix some mistakes they made last week and both pitchers came in a played really well."
 
Randi Phillips (15-13) picked up the start in the circle, tossing five scoreless innings before Allie Gardiner replaced her in the sixth. Phillips allowed just three hits in five innings. Gardiner finished the game for the Mavericks, tossing two innings while allowing three hits.
 
The Mavericks finished with 10 hits on the day, led by Whitney Walton's 3-for-4 effort.  Walton also drove in a run and scored once herself.  Laura Curry joined Walton with a multi-hit day, going 2-for-2 at the plate. Reagan Wright led the Mavericks with two RBI.
 
After Phillips forced a 1-2-3 inning to begin the game, the Mavs put up the first runs of the game.  Krista Rude beat out bunt to give the Mavs a baserunner before Aileen Garcia forced an error on the shortstop with a hard ground ball, allowing Rude to reach home.  Reagan Wright used a full-count RBI double to score Garcia before Brittany Wyllie scored Wright with a single up the middle.
 
Following a scoreless second inning, the Mavs got back to work in third.  Rude and Curry both reach base as the leadoff hitters before Wright knocked in her second RBI of the day with a sacrifice fly to center field to make it a four-run game.
 
After skipping another inning of scoring, the top of the Mavericks lineup was due up and did not disappoint.  Whitney Walton reached base on a single through the left side before Laura Curry hit a blooper to right field to make it 5-0, Mavericks.
 
The Mavericks used a two-out rally in the sixth inning to give themselves some extra cushion heading into the final frame.  Avery Grimes hit a double to the left field gap to score KJ Murphy. Walton connected with another ball to the left field gap to bring Grimes home with the next at-bat and push the lead to 7-0.
 
UP NEXT
The Mavericks advance to the semifinals of the bracket and will take on McNeese State tomorrow (Friday) at 3 p.m. at the SFA Softball Field.