THE RUNDOWN
WICHITA FALLS, Texas – Senior Misty Muniz tossed her second-straight one-hitter as Midwestern State completed the weekend sweep of Western New Mexico in a 2-1 pitcher's duel at Mustangs Park on Friday. MSU Texas improved to 12-9 overall and 5-7 in Lone Star Conference play after its first conference sweep since Feb. 17-18, 2018 against UT Permian Basin.
 
After coming within a strike of no-hitters in each of her last two home starts, the Seabrook, Texas, native kept WNMU hitless for the first six frames on Friday. With one out in the top of the seventh, Carolyn Castillo broke up the no-hit bid with a solo home run to straightaway center.
 
Muniz struck out 12 in 7.0 innings of work and recorded the most strikeouts for MSU Texas since Laci Belovsky fanned 13 against Western New Mexico on Feb. 2, 2013 in Phoenix. The right-hander has struck out 57 in her last 43 innings of work.
 
WNMU's Julia Vega made the most of her third start in the circle in the series, keeping the Maroon and Gold out of the hit column until the bottom of the fifth. Vega allowed two runs on four hits with three walks in a complete game effort, but fell to 1-5 on the season.
 
Senior Tucker Caraway broke through for the Mustangs first hit of the day with a single to right to lead off the fifth. Muniz put down a sacrifice bunt to move Caraway into scoring position with one out. After an infield popup, sophomore Caycee Griffin and junior Kelsey Eropkin logged back-to-back doubles for a pair of runs to break the scoring seal.
 
Muniz retired the side in order in the sixth and struck out Alicia Habitzreuther to start the seventh before Castillo decided to spoil the historic performance.
 
GAME NOTES
- Midwestern State completed its first Lone Star Conference sweep since breaking out the brooms on Feb. 17-18, 2018 against UT Permian Basin in Odessa
- MSU Texas improves to 17-3 all-time against Western New Mexico and 7-0 at home
- The Mustangs improve to 7-1 at home this season
- Senior Misty Muniz took a no-hit bid into the seventh for the third time this season (Feb. 23 vs. Cameron; March 7 vs. WNMU)
- The 12 strikeouts by the right-hander were the most by a MSU Texas player since Laci Belovsky fanned 13 against WNMU on Feb. 2, 2013 in Phoenix
- Muniz has allowed 19 hits in her last 43.0 innings of work, striking out 57 over that span
- Sophomore Caycee Griffin and junior Kelsey Eropkin hit back-to-back RBI doubles in the bottom of the fifth to give the Mustangs the lead
- Eropkin clubbed her ninth double of the season, the second-most in the LSC
 
UP NEXT
MSU Texas returns to the diamond on Fri., March 15 against Angelo State. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. at Mayer Field in San Angelo.