by JONATHAN FORNEY
Staff Writer

From April 29-30, the Islander softball team played their last three-game home series of the season against the Wildcats of Abilene Christian University. The team ultimately dropped the series after losing the decisive third game 5-3.

The first two games were played back-to-back and each team took a win from double-header. The Islanders won the first game 4-3 due in part to their advantage at the plate with eight hits compared to six for the Wildcats. Senior Cosette Hernandez went a career high 3-3 in the game to help her team come out on top.
The second game told a different story however. In the 7-3 loss, the hitting dominance went in Abilene Christian’s favor (11 compared to 7, respectively). The team came back to take the lead in the third, but after giving back-to-back three-run innings, there simply were not enough innings remaining to mount another comeback.
In addition to forcing a third game to decide the series, some Islander history was made in the double-header. Junior pitcher Liz Carter became the second player in program history to tally 147 strikeouts in a single season. The accolade puts Carter in elite company alongside Islander great, Sarah Pauly.
In the third and final game of the series, head coach Stephanie Hughes put her seniors front and center in their final home game. Before the game began, those in attendance took the time to honor the four seniors and their families for their time at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. The foursome of Stephanie Flores, Cosette Hernandez, Dani Tefft and Allison Bressie all received hugs, flowers and recognition from their coaches, teammates and fans.
“Their leadership is something you can’t coach,” Hughes said. “Their leadership for the younger players is definitely what I’m going to miss the most.”
In her final game at Chapman Field, Flores echoed the sentiment of her coach on leadership.
“You have to do things right when you want others to follow,” Flores said.
Once the photos were taken and hugs exchanged, it was time to finish the series. With Flores on the mound, things began evenly enough with no hits given up or earned through the first inning. Things took a turn in the second, however. Four hits and three runs later, the Islanders found themselves in a hole. The team responded with their own three-run burst of their own in the sixth by Tefft, junior Jessica Mendez and sophomore Mariah Clay.
The run for Clay marked the very first of her career, a memorable moment indeed.
Once all was said and done, the team ultimately came up short but the loss felt differently than others. Obviously, the team wanted to win, but the real goal of the last game was a showcase of everything the seniors had done up to a point and served as a sort of last hoorah in their final game at Chapman Field.
“All four contributed,” Hughes said. “I just wanted to make it a special day for them.”
Following the game, the team’s record stands at 16-29 and 5-18 in conference play. Their final series of the season will be played against Incarnate Word in San Antonio as the team looks to finish the season on a winning note.