TEXARKANA, Texas -- Kara Strickland's two-out, bases-loaded single in the fifth was the difference as Pleasant Grove rallied to a 5-3 softball win over Liberty-Eylau Tuesday night at Hawk field.
PG, now 2-0 in District 15-4A, fell behind early when the Lady Leopards notched a run in each of their first two at-bats to lead 2-0 after two. Hawk pitcher Sarah Hackleman settled down after that, holding L-E hitless until Kaci Otwell launched a line-drive over the left field fence in the top of the seventh.
Hackleman went the distance on the mound, surrendering four hits and striking out six. She also got the offense going, slamming an RBI triple to the fence in the top of the third to bring in Rae Barns. Sophomore catcher Jacklyn Smith's tied the game with a sacrifice fly to center.
Ja'Kai Ray put the Leopards up in the first. She pounded a double to left and came in when the next hitter, Addyson Ward, delivered an RBI single. She tried to stretch it to a double, but PG leftfielder Addy Dial gunned her down at second.
A single, stolen base and error in the second gave the Leopards their second run.
The game remained tied until the fifth when PG turned four singles into three runs. Smith and Abby Runion got it going with a pair of one-out singles. Hailey Allen drove in Smith with hard grounder right up the middle.
Kassidy Ingram reached on an infield single. With the bases loaded, Strickland waited for the pitch she wanted and got it on a 2-1 count. Her liner to center brought in Allen and Runion.
"That was a very good PG team, and we played them well," said L-E coach Dillon Surratt, whose team fell to 0-2 in district. "We still need to learn to string hits together and come up with key hits with runners in scoring position. When we play to our potential, a lot of great things can happen."
"We're still growing and improving," said PG coach Becca Collom. "Tonight, we were patient and eventually made the adjustments we needed to make."