Zips Open Campaign Splitting Pair of Games at Tarleton Invitational

Friday, February 17

Stephenville, Texas

10:30 AM ET

University of Akron

1-0

Creighton

2-3

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Creighton	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	3
Akron	0	0	0	0	4	0	X	4	6	0

Photo by: Gabi Cortez, Tarleton Athletics

Zips Open Campaign Splitting Pair of Games at Tarleton Invitational

February 17 | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

photo courtesy of Gabi Cortez, Tarleton Athletics

CREIGHTON BOXSCORE (PDF) | TEXAS A&M-COMMERCE BOXSCORE (PDF)

STEPHENVILLE, TEXAS - The University of Akron women's softball squad opened its 2023 campaign with a split of its contests at the Tarleton Invitational hosted by Tarleton State on Friday, Feb. 17.

The Zips started the day garnering a 2-0 victory over Creighton (2-3) before dropping a 7-3 decision to Texas A&M-Commerce in the nightcap.

"I thought we played pretty well today," Akron head coach Craig Nicholson commented. "We had a couple of mistakes in game two and they took advantage. We kept competing, but just never got a big hit and left too many people on base.

Freshman P Haley Croyle (Hubbard, Ohio) came within one out of pitching the 35th no-hitter in program history against the Bluejays tossing a complete-game one-hit gem for the Zips, while striking out 12 Creighton batters.

Akron broke open a scoreless game in the bottom of the fifth inning exploding for four runs on three hits to assume a lead the squad didn't relinquish. After an error allowed the Zips to score their first run, freshman Brooke Sivek (Boerne, Texas) singled to left field to drive in freshman Meagan Lee (Leander, Texas) to extend Akron's advantage to 2-0. A one-out double from sophomore Alexis Campbell (Indianapolis, Ind.) followed to plate Sivek and junior Madison Dudek (Uniontown, Ohio) to account for the final 4-0 score.

Croyle struck out the next five batters before a two-out single through the left side ended her no-hit bid in the seventh inning in her collegiate debut.

"Haley was outstanding in game one and we got some timely hitting," said Nicholson. "We just have to keep getting better every day."

Sivek and junior Kalli Macintosh-Houlder (Mississauga, Ontario) each went 2-for-3 at the plate versus Creighton, while Campbell collected a pair of RBI.

In the nightcap, the Zips opened the scoring in the bottom of the first inning as Macintosh-Houlder doubled to drive in redshirt junior Molly McChesney (Verona, Wis.).

The Lions responded with five runs in the top of the third inning and a single tally in the fourth to assume a 6-1 lead.

A one-out sacrifice fly by Campbell scored sophomore Megan Cotton (Sammamish, Wash.) in the bottom of the fifth inning to make it 6-2 in favor of Texas A&M-Commerce, before the Zips capped the scoring with an RBI single from Campbell in the seventh to plate sophomore Autumn Bailey (Ashland, Ohio).

Freshman Abigail Scheller (North Hills, Pa.) went 2-for-3 on the afternoon, while Sivek added a pair of hits for the Zips.

Redshirt senior P Alexa DiFeo (Akron, Ohio) struck out five over five innings of relief.

UP NEXT:
Akron battles host Tarleton State and Creighton on Saturday, Feb. 18 at 5:15 and 7:30 p.m. ET, respectively.