Lamar sports information

MONROE, La. – Taylor Gruell and Mackenzie Futrell were the heroes Wednesday as the Lamar Cardinals swept a non-conference softball doubleheader from the host Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks, needing eight innings in each contest to claim wins of 11-7 and 3-2.

Gruell (9-7), who hadn’t won since March 23, had two stellar relief outings to get the win in both games, while Futrell lashed a two-out, two-run pinch-hit single in the top of the seventh of the opener to tie the game at 7 on her first hit of the season.

The Cardinals (26-24) snapped a five-game skid, while ULM (23-23) extended its losing streak to six games.

In Game 1, Shelby Henderson and Shelby Hughston had three hits apiece as the Cardinals matched their season high with 17 hits as they rallied from a 7-2 deficit in the seventh inning for the win.

LU scored five runs on six hits in the seventh inning before adding four runs on three hits in the eighth inning. Futrell picked the perfect time for her first hit of the season, tying the game as she ripped the ball into center field.

Gruell tossed four innings of one-hit relief to get the win in the second game as the Cardinals staged another comeback win.

The Warhawks scored single runs in the first and fourth innings off LU starter Amie Cisneros, who allowed three hits in her four innings of work. The Cardinals tied it in the sixth with two runs. Kendall Talley scored on an outfield error before Taylor Davis drove home pinch-runner Corina Thornton with a double down the left-field line.

Henderson brought home the winning run in the top of the eighth as her sacrifice fly plated Kendall Talley.