By Mark Kusenberger
tsrnsports.com
Special to SAsports.com

In retrospect, the Corpus Christi Carroll Tigers shouldn’t have scored two runs against Marshall pitcher Brie Sanchez Friday night at Northside Field. 

It just made her angry.

By the time Sanchez was finished, the Rams had scored four runs and Sanchez had struck out 13 to win their one-game series against the Carroll Tigers 4-2. 

Brie Sanchez had an early bought with control; her wild pitches, along a walk to Samantha Sanchez and singles Stephanie Vead and Leanna Simmons.  Carroll led 2-0 after half an inning.

The Lady Rams wasted no time in responding.  Three singles to lead off the bottom of the first by Marie Mousseaurioux, Tori Gutierrez, and Nick Morfin, combined with errors by the Carroll defense, allowed Marshall to tie the game. 

Marshall got the go-ahead runs in the 4th; Mel Padilla led off with a double, then her pinch runner Katy Pena scored on a Kristie Leal single.  Kristie Leal singled home Pena to give the Lady Rams their first lead; Leal went to second on the throw home.  Leal went to third on Lauren Salazar’s groundout; one out later, Lead scored on a single by Emily Vanderwalle, extending the Lady Ram lead to 4-2. 

Meanwhile, Brie Sanchez was getting comfortable and becoming unhittable.  Brie Sanchez struck out at least two Tigers in every inning except the third.  Brie Sanchez made Carroll’s Ashley Winegeart perform a hat trick – 3 strikeouts – and hung the Golden Sombrero on leadoff hitter Sandy Schumann – 4 strikeouts. 

No Lady Rams struck out until the last batter of the bottom of the 6th. 

Brie Sanchez allowed no runners to third base after the first inning, but Carroll tried.  After Brie Sanchez struck out two hitters to start the Carroll eighth, Carroll’s Samantha Sanchez got an infield single.  Samantha Sanchez tried to go to third on a single to right by Stephanie Vead, but a powerful throw by Mousseaurioux beat Sanchez; Mel Padilla was tagged out to end the inning and the game. 

Leanna Simmons, who went 3-3, was on deck representing the go-ahead run when Samantha Sanchez was thrown out. 

The Marshall Rams will play defending region champion Austin Bowie in the area round.  It’s a rematch of their series last season, where Game 3 went to 19 innings before Bowie won 1-0.