ABILENE, Texas – The Celts of the University of St. Thomas opened their four-game trip to Abilene on the proverbial right foot Tuesday as they swept a doubleheader at McMurry.
UST (12-6) ran its winning streak to five games, one short of the program record set in last year's inaugural season when the Celts won six straight contests between March 12 and 27, 2021.
The visitors' triumphs also snapped McMurry's own nine-game winning streak. The Warhawks (13-6) dropped a doubleheader at home for the first time this season; McMurry had entered Tuesday's contests with a 9-1 home record.
In sweeping the Warhawks, UST became the first Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference team to defeat McMurry this season.
The Celts conclude their Abilene road trip Wednesday when they travel to the city's north side for a doubleheader at Hardin-Simmons. The first pitch in game one is scheduled for noon.
GAME ONE: Celts 2, McMurry 1
With her team unable to send a runner across the plate for six innings, UST's Jaelyn Simmons broke through with a triple to left field in the top of the seventh inning that scored Shae Montemayor and Delayne Moreno.
Simmons led the UST bats in the opener by collecting three of the team's five hits, going 3-for-4 in the process. Montemayor and Lindsey Gonzalez also picked up hits for the visitors in game one.
The Celts had stranded baserunners in four of the game's first six innings before Simmons' triple stunned the home team. She was stranded at third when McMurry pitcher Jenna Lewis recovered to strike out the next two UST hitters.
Meanwhile, UST pitcher Lindsey Longuet tossed a gem of her own and came away with a much-deserved victory, scattering four hits in the process. She retired the first nine batters she faced before McMurry's Angelica Abila doubled to lead off the fourth; Abila moved to third on a sacrifice bunt and then scored on an RBI fielder's choice off the bat of Emily Michki.
After getting out of the fourth inning, Longuet continued to baffle the Warhawks as she set down six of the seven batters she faced in the fifth and sixth innings. Only Grace Duecker reached base in that span when she was hit by a Longuet pitch.
With a 2-1 lead thanks to Simmons' heroics in the top of the seventh, Longuet gave up back-to-back singles to open the bottom half of the inning. Undeterred, she induced the next hitter to hit a groundball to third baseman Simmons, who tossed it to shortstop Gonzalez for the force out at third.
After relying on her teammates to back her up throughout the game, Longuet took care of the final two batters herself, as she struck out Cayleigh England and Kaylee Berdoll to end the game. They were strikeouts Nos. 2 and 3 for Longuet.
GAME TWO: Celts 5, McMurry 4
The Celts fell behind 2-1 after the first inning of game two but took the lead for good thanks to a three-run third inning.
Sydneye Cromwell tied the game in the third with a single that scored Mallarie Munson, who reached base with a one-out double. After Grace Torres singled, Taylor Le hit a two-RBI double to left field to give the Celts a 4-2 lead; it was the first of two doubles Le hit in the contest.
Celts batters Nos. 5 through 7 provided seven of the team's 11 hits in game two and scored a run apiece. Cromwell hit 3-for-4, while Torres and Le went 2-for-4.
McMurry pulled to within a run in the fourth inning. Kayleigh Deakle's fielder's choice at-bat in the sixth to score Le gave the Celts a two-run lead, which was trimmed in half when McMurry scored an unearned run off reliever Marissa Vasquez in the bottom of the sixth.
Munson started in the circle, scattered six hits, and gave up three runs. She turned the ball over to Vasquez in the fifth inning with UST leading, and Vasquez pitched the final three innings while giving up only three hits to pick up her second save in UST's last four games.
