Cleaning up: Torres continues torrid streak
Published 9:00 am Saturday, March 25, 2023
- McNeese State’s Mariana Torres gives a thumbs-up after hitting a bases-loaded triple against Texas A&M-Commerce in the first of a three-game Southland Conference series Friday at Cowgirl Diamond. (Kirk Meche / Special to the American Press)
Mariana Torres, recently promoted to the cleanup spot in the batting order, continued her recent hitting tear in leading McNeese State to a 9-0, five-inning mercy-rule win over Texas A&M-Commerce Friday in a Southland Conference series opener.
Torres drove in four runs and extender her hitting streak to six games. In those games, she’s driven in nine runs.
The Cowgirls (20-10, 4-0 SLC), the defending conference champions, parlayed three consecutive walks into a pair of first-inning runs. Alayis Seneca scored on a Rylie Bouvier fielder’s choice. Chloe Gomez, back in the lineup after missing two games, scored from third while Bouvier was in a rundown between first and second.
McNeese blew the game open with a four-run third inning. Infield singles by Seneca and Gomez put runners on the corners with no outs. Reese Reyna was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Torres drilled a triple down the right-field line to score all three runners.
“I was just trying to find a good pitch to hit,” Torres said. “I was trying to forget about the result and just trying to get a good pitch to barrel up.”
Torres scored on a grounder by Bouvier to increase the Cowgirls lead to 6-0.
The lead grew to nine runs in the fourth. Gomez doubled and scored on a sacrifice fly by Torres. Reyna singled and scored on an infield single by Bouvier. Jada Munoz delivered a pinch hit single to score Bouvier.
Whitney Tate (10-2) earned the win, pitching four scoreless innings and allowing two hits while striking out four.
“She has great composure and doesn’t get rattled,” McNeese head coach James Landreneau said of Tate.
“Any time there’s a runner on base she attacks the strike zone right away, she has no fear. We love our pitching staff and how competitive they all are. Whitney sets the tone.”
Gomez and Crislyne Moreno each had two hits for McNeese. Bouvier drove in three runs for the third time in four conference games.
Kayden Bennett and Diamond Sefe each had a hit for the Lions (5-22, 1-3).
The series concludes with a doubleheader at 1 p.m. today.
