The Temple College Leopards softball endured a Saturday postponement and an early Sunday thunderstorm that resulted in a 90-minute delay which finally led to the conclusion of their Northern Texas Junior College Athletic Conference series with North Central Texas College on Sunday afternoon with a doubleheader at the Danny Scott Athletic Complex.
The Leopards posted 12 runs over the 14 innings played and came away with a pair of wins, 6-1 and 6-2, to earn Temple their 30th win over the season going into the conference bye week.
Temple (30-11 overall, 13-7 NTJCAC) took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first when Emily Delgado's single to left scored Lexi Dudeczka.
Jasmine Benavidez singled home Angie DeLeon in the second inning to lift the Leopards advantage to 2-0.
TC scored twice in the fourth inning, as Dudeczka scored on a Marli Kennedy single, and Kennedy and Lily Garcia scored on a DeLeon double.
Camryn Dunkley's sacrifice fly to left field scored Benavidez to put Temple up 6-0 going into the top of the sixth.
Kacey White's single in the top of the sixth scored Nayani Brown to break up the shutout.
DeLeon and Benavidez each had two hits, DeLeon drove home two runs and Dudeczka scored twice.
Haley Crawford, the reigning NTJCAC Pitcher of the Week, picked up the win in the circle with the complete game four-hitter, allowed one run, struck out seven, walked two, and hit one batter.
Whitley McClure took the loss for the Lions, as she pitched four innings, allowed five runs on seven hits, walked four and struck out one. Kate Krebs pitched two innings of relief, allowed one run on one hit and struck out one.
The Lions took a 2-0 lead in the first inning of game two, as Olivia Martin doubled home Montana Moore and Kacey White.
TC pulled off a one-out double steal in the bottom of the third. On the first pitch to Garcia, Kennedy took off for second and beat Abby Baglin's throw. Benavidez broke for the plate immediately after Baglin's throw was released and beat the throw home to put the Leopards on the board.
The stolen base changed the momentum for the Leopards, as it led to scores in the next two innings. In the fifth, DeLeon doubled home Garcia and Reese Cottrell's single scored Delgado and Garcia to increase Temple's lead to three runs. Dudeczka's single scored Hill in the sixth to make the score 6-2.
Hannah Calhoun pitched 1/3 inning, allowed two runs and two hits before Cottrell took over in relief. After a walk to Miranda Serrato with one out in the first, Cottrell set down 17 straight. Serrato singled to lead off the seventh but was erased when Emma Dalberg's line out to DeLeon at first and she tagged the bag for a double play.
Cottrell picked up the win as she pitched 6 2/3 innings, allowed one hit, one walk, and struck out seven.
Dudeczka and Hill each had three hits, while Hill scored twice, and Cottrell had two runs batted in.
White took the loss in the circle, having pitched five innings, allowed six runs on 11 hits, walked two and struck out two. Krebs pitched an inning of scoreless relief.
The Leopards have the conference bye this week and will return to action with a doubleheader against Cisco College at the Danny Scott Sports Complex on April 9.