One month ago, the Temple College Lady Leopards suffered perhaps their worst sweep in program history when they lost two games to a Ranger team that not only had never swept TC but also has hardly swept anyone.

On Wednesday, the Lady Leopards got their revenge in a 9-5, 11-2 sweep over Ranger at Danny Scott Sports Complex.

“I was real pleased with the way the girls played today,” Temple coach Larry Hennig said. “The sweep at Ranger was definitely a low point for this program. And they haven’t been playing that well since.”

In fact, Wednesday’s sweep dropped the Lady Rangers to 13-36 overall and 4-14 in Northern Texas Junior College Athletic Conference play. Temple improved to 23-21 and 10-8, and with wins in six of their last seven games the Lady Leopards have moved into prime position to grab one of the conference’s top seeds.

“We continue to play well and are where we need to be to get in the top three or four for the (NTJCAC) tournament,” Hennig said. “That’s important because it means playing just one game a day at the tournament. The fifth- and sixth-place teams will have to play two a day just to survive.”

But the tournament was the farthest thing from the Lady Leopards’ minds Wednesday, as they had a little revenge to take care of from March 12’s 6-5, 7-0 sweep at Ranger.

And they made it clear right away that they weren’t going to lose another one to the lowly Lady Rangers, scoring four runs and having six runners reach base in the first inning before Ranger recorded an out.

“We felt we had to establish the momentum early,” Hennig said. “We wanted to score often and put them away. They are the type of team that plays with a lot more intensity if they are in a close game.”

A beautiful performance in the circle by Bruceville-Eddy graduate Haley Friudenberg made sure that the Lady Rangers never had anything to get intense about.

Friudenberg didn’t allow a hit through the first three innings, although Ranger scored an unearned run in the second, as Temple established a 6-1 lead.

Ranger finally scrapped together two runs in the fifth, then finally forced Hennig to pull Friudenberg in the seventh after the first four batters reached base and Ranger cut the lead to 9-4.

Rockdale product Samantha Meyer came in to get the final two outs and preserve the win.

“She gave us six quality innings,” Hennig said of Fruidenberg. “She performed well and was in control out there. And Sam came in and got a couple of big outs, as well.”

In the second game, TC’s Amanda Mayfield was just as dominant in the circle, holding Ranger to four hits and no runs in four innings. Jennifer Kurten pitched the fifth as TC run-ruled Ranger.

“Mayfield is obviously pitching better than anyone else right now,” Hennig said. “It was another good outing for her.”

And Temple also had an advantage with the weather, as rain began to fall slightly in the bottom of the second inning and didn’t let up until Temple had pushed across eight runs and sent 12 batters to the plate in the inning, highlighted by Mayfield’s three-run double.

“If you happened to be batting when it rained, that was a big advantage,” Hennig said. “It was also a lesson in playing conditions. It’s hard for the pitchers to put any spin on the ball when you can’t grip it. And I thought we handled that better than they did.”

Hennig said to prepare for the game, his team took infield practice with wet balls and had his pitchers mainly throw fastballs when the ball was wet.

“It hurt us some,” he admitted. “That’s what hurt Haley in the first game. But I thought we handled it well both games. The girls stayed focused and I was proud of them for that.

“(The rain) really does affect a lot and you tell the girls to not think about it, but then you know it affects things, and you change things, so you’re doing one thing and telling them something different. But that’s softball.”

TC’s Heather Mosser was 4-for-5 on the day and twice was hit by a pitch. Lindsey Matt had two triples in the opening game and Cameron Yoe graduate Courtney DeLaRosa added one in the second game. Additionally, every Temple hitter scored at least two runs on the day.

“You like to have that balance throughout your lineup,” Hennig said. “You want your one through nine hitters to be just as tough of an out. And I think we are getting better at that.”

The Lady Leopards will compete in the Hall of Fame Tournament in Oklahoma City this weekend and return home Monday to host Hill in a conference doubleheader at 1 p.m.

mhood@temple-telegram.com