The Houston softball team won a pair of non-conference games this week courtesy of the long ball.
The Lady Tigers hit four combined home runs – two from Ashley Gilbert and one apiece by Katy Evans and Natalie Clinton – to mash Mansfield 12-5 on Thursday and slam Steelville 19-9 on Tuesday. Both were played on Carter Field.
HHS (4-1) plays Saturday in the annual SCA Tournament beginning with a first-round matchup against former coach Jim Moore and his Salem Tigers.
“We’re further ahead that I thought we’d be at this point,” first-year Houston coach Conaley Aaron said. “As we’ve seen, the offense is there. The defense looked really good (Thursday) night and pitching is coming along. That’s the big thing we continue to work on.”
Gilbert homers in second straight game
Gilbert, the Lady Tigers’ left-handed hitting cleanup hitter, homered for the second straight game and drove in 3 runs as HHS downed Mansfield.
Clinton hit her first career home run – a high fly ball to center field – as part of her 2-for-2 day with 3 runs scored. Sophomore Claire Benoist had a pair of hits and drove in 3 runs. Ava Koch also had two hits.
Koch struck out 9 batters in 6 innings in the win. She gave up 8 hits and 5 runs with 4 walks.
Freshman Ember Green faced 4 batters in the top of the seventh and struck out 3 to close the game.
“The pitching was much better today,” Aaron said. “It was nice to see the defensive pieces work because we threw strikes.”
HHS trailed 4-3 before scoring 6 times in the bottom of the second inning. Gilbert had a 2-run homer in the rally. Lilly Kincaid and Benoist had RBI groundouts.
Evans, Gilbert homer in comeback win
Evans homered in Houston’s five-run third inning rally to erase a three-run deficit, and Gilbert put the finishing touches on the win with a two-run blast in the sixth as the Lady Tigers run-ruled Steeleville in six innings.
Evans was 3-for-5 with 3 runs scored and 2 RBIs. Gilbert, who has a team-leading 13 RBIs, drove in a pair of runs. Leadoff hitter Gracyn McNiell scored 4 times. Koch and Benoist had 2 hits apiece.
The Lady Tigers had 7 doubles – two from Evans – a triple by Benoist and the homers from Evans and Gilbert. Ten of their 12 hits were for extra bases.
Green earned her first career win in relief. She threw 3 2/3 innings, striking out 7 and walking 4 while allowing 2 earned runs.
BOX SCORES
Thursday’s game
Mansfield 2 2 0 1 0 0 0 – 5 8 1
Houston 3 6 1 0 2 0 x – 12 8 1
HOU (ab-r-h-bi) –McNiell c 2-2-1-0. Kincaid ss 3-1-0-2. Evans 2b 3-2-0-0. Gilbert 1b 3-2-1-3. Koch p 4-1-2-0. Benoist 3b 4-0-2-3. Volk lf 4-0-0-0. Warner dp 2-1-0-0. Clinton cf 2-3-2-1.
3B: Koch. HR: Gilbert, Clinton. SB: McNiell 2, Gilbert.
WP: Koch.
Tuesday’s game
Steelville 015 120 – 9 6 4
Houston 215 227 – 19 12 3
HOU (ab-r-h-bi) – McNiell c 2-4-1-1. Kincaid cf 1-3-1-0. Evans lf 5-3-3-2. Gilbert 1b 4-2-2-3. Koch ss 4-1-2-1. Benoist 3b 4-2-2-1. Volk 2b 2-1-0-0. Warner ph 0-0-0-0. Clinton p 3-1-1-1. Shuman dp 2-2-0-0. Totals 27-19-12-9.
2B: Evans 2, Gilbert, Koch, McNiell, Kincaid, Cliton. 3B: Benoist. HR: Gilbert, Evans. SB: Kincaid 3, Benoist, McNiell, Volk. CS: Kincaid, Volk.
WP: Green.