Kaylee Parker kept her team in the game. Kali Holcomb got her team out of it.
Parker homered twice to help Angelina College keep pace with a red-hot Tyler College team, and Holcomb blasted a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the seventh to give the No. 21 Lady Roadrunners a 10-7 win and a split of Sunday’s doubleheader at Roadrunner Complex in Lufkin.
Parker put the Lady ‘Runners up 2-0 with a two-run shot in the first. Tyler went up 4-2 with a run in the second and three in the third, then Holcomb singled home a run in the third to cut the Lady Apache lead to one at 4-3. Parker then blasted a three-run shot into the wind for a 6-4 AC lead.
The Lady Apaches, who had won nine straight conference games – including a 9-0 win over AC in Sunday’s opener – continued to work their way back into the lead, getting an RBI groundout from Haille Weber in the fourth. In the fifth, Tyler scored two runs with two outs, taking a 7-6 lead into the seventh inning.
In their final at-bat, the Lady Roadrunners started the rally with Halie Pritchett’s single, Miranda Wiggins’ double and Lauren Garza’s walk to load the bases. One out later, Holcomb launched a ball far over the left-field wall for the game winner in AC’s 10-7 win.
Parker and Holcomb each finished with five RBI. Freshman pitcher Courtney Stephenson of Jasper earned her first collegiate win in a relief role, entering in the seventh and stifling a Lady Apache rally long enough to set up Holcomb’s heroics.
