As spring break is approaching here at Hardin-Simmons University, the Cowgirl softball team is entering the second half of their season. The Cowgirls played their first two preseason games against Schreiner University on Feb. 6. The following weekend, they played their first American Southwest Conference (ASC) series game against the University of Mary-Hardin Baylor at Ellis Field.
Since then, the Cowgirls have swept Howard Payne University, went 1-2 in the series against their rival team East Texas Baptist University and went 1-2 again against the University of Texas at Dallas.
The Cowgirls now sit at a record of 9-5. Karis Hessert, senior exercise science major from Royse City, leads the team with 16 hits, two of those being home runs, and those produced 10 RBIs. Having completed her Bachelors of Business last spring and currently working on her MBA, Mason McCord from Greenville leads the team with three home runs. Sarah Polanco, junior human services administration major from El Paso, leads the team with an on-base percentage of .500. The team’s batting average is respectable .299 and they have scored 60 runs against their opponents over their 14 games.
The Cowgirl’s pitching staff started the season red hot with a team ERA of 2.97. The stand-out pitchers are Kylie Ruiz, a freshman nursing major from Harlingen, who has an ERA of 1.58 over 17.2 innings pitched. She has won two games for her team. Kelly Shackelford, a sophomore psychology major from Southlake, has an ERA of 1.91 over 7.1 innings pitched. Haven Williams, a junior english education major from Abilene, has an ERA of 2.17 with seven appearances over 29 innings pitched.
The Cowgirls are also a danger on the basepath. Kadi Downs, a junior pre-PA major from Foreman, Ark., leads the team with ten stolen bases. Downs, along with McCord and Peyton Newman from Bedford has completed her Bachelors of Business this past December and is now pursuing her MBA, all have a stolen base percentage of 1.00.
The Cowgirls are scheduled to play six non-conference games over spring break before jumping back into conference play when they travel to Longview to play LeTourneau University on March 18 and 19.