Season-high 12 runs, 13 hits help Gold Nuggets split at TAMUT

TEXARKANA, Texas — Freshman outfielder Calbey Parker had three hits, two runs and two RBIs Thursday to help Xavier University of Louisiana defeat Texas A&M-Texarkana 12-3 and gain a split of their Red River Athletic Conference softball doubleheader.

The Eagles won the opener 5-1.

The Gold Nuggets (8-12 overall, 6-8 RRAC) will stay in Texas for a 2 p.m. Friday non-conference doubleheader against Dallas Christian at Oran Good Park in the Dallas suburb of Farmers Branch.

Parker was 5-for-8 in the doubleheader to raise her season batting average to .464, which ranks second in the RRAC and 33rd in the NAIA.

Amireeya Malveaux, Chenai Keyes and Caitlin Buford had two RBIs apiece for XULA in the second game. Keyes had three hits, and Amaya Williams had two hits and scored three times. The Gold Nuggets’ 13 hits, all singles, and runs were season highs.

XULA invoked the mercy rule when Parker singled home Buford and Madison Winston in the sixth, then winning pitcher Maia Tyler worked a 1-2-3 bottom of the inning.

Tyler (5-5), a freshman right-hander, worked the final 11 innings of the doubleheader and earned her third road victory.

XULA earned its first-ever victory against TAMUT since joining the Red River in July 2021. The Eagles outscored the Gold Nuggets 65-12 in winning eight in a row.

In the opener, the Eagles’ Stephanie Chico (6-3) pitched a four-hitter, but the Gold Nuggets averted a shutout when Rayne Althaus singled home Parker with one out in the seventh.

XULA is in seventh place in the RRAC and a game ahead of eighth-place Texas College, which lost two at home to LSU-Alexandria. TAMUT (14-14, 9-7) is sixth. Texas College will visit XULA at noon Monday for a doubleheader at Regala Park in suburban Reserve, La.