<\/p>\n
Portland Cascades utility player Megan Grant (43) runs home for a score after a home run hit during the game against the Portland Cascades at Dell Diamond on Sunday, June 28, 2026 in Round Rock, Texas.<\/p>\n
Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n
A big day for a Portland Cascade star rookie erased an early Texas Volts <\/a>lead and spurred a 5-2 win Sunday for the visitors in Round Rock.<\/p>\n Texas answered a\u00a0first-inning home run by former UCLA star Megan Grant\u00a0with two scores of their own thanks to a two-run double by Volts rookie Jackie\u00a0Lis. The ledger\u00a0held at 2-1 until starter Ally\u00a0Carda left the game in the fourth inning with two on and one out.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Texas Volts head coach Ricci Woodard greets pitcher Ally Carda (3) as she leaves the game against the Portland Cascades at Dell Diamond on Sunday, June 28, 2026 in Round Rock, Texas.<\/p>\n Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n Former Texas State standout Jessica\u00a0Mullins uncorked a\u00a0wild pitch allowed in two Cascade runs in the top of the\u00a0fourth, with the extra space behind home plate at Dell Diamond causing some problems from the Volts. Then Grant \u2014 who set an NCAA record for single-season home runs in 2025 \u2014 hit her second long ball of the day.<\/p>\n RELATED: How Cat Osterman is trying to build an identity with new pro softball team<\/a><\/p>\n The Volts (3-10) managed just one\u00a0baserunner the rest of the game.\u00a0Carda, who’s played for Team USA, ceded three runs on six hits and three walks while striking out four. She was on the hook for the loss after the two-run errant pitch from Mullins in the fourth. Texas ex Leighann Goode collected a single among her three at-bats.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Texas Volts pitcher Ally Carda (3) throws a pitch during the game against the Portland Cascades at Dell Diamond on Sunday, June 28, 2026 in Round Rock, Texas.<\/p>\n Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n Former LSU and Team USA star Carley Hoover earned the win with five innings of shutout relief following opener Kelly Maxwell. A reserve basketball player for UCLA as a well as a softball All-American, Grant finished 2-for-3 with three RBIs and a walk. Former Texas A&M softball<\/a> stars Tori Vidales and Kennedy Powell combined to go 1-for-5 with a walk; Powell reached both times for Portland (8-4).\u00a0<\/p>\n In the seventh inning, Jalia Lassiter stole a home run from Portland’s Mia Davidson in center field, leaping at the fence to catch the ball. The win finished a sweep for Portland. She collected a hit and sacrifice in her four plate\u00a0appearances. Lassiter, an all-conference selection at LSU, has heated up the past four games with five hits over\u00a011 at-bats, including two home runs.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n On Saturday, the Cascade jumped out to a quick lead then held off the Volts 6-3 in the series’ middle game.<\/p>\n Lassiter led the\u00a0Volts offensively in Game 2, going 2-for-2 with two runs scored and a stolen base. After a 3-0 lead was built by Portland, Texas answered with two runs in the bottom of the third. Lassiter walked to lead off the inning before\u00a0Lis hit a double.<\/p>\n Goode\u00a0drove Lassiter home with\u00a0a sacrifice fly to center field. Following a walk, Rylie Boone brought in\u00a0Lis with a single. Cascade right-hander Payton\u00a0Gottshall entered the game in relief to retire the side. Portland added runs\u00a0in the fourth, sixth and seventh, rendering a final-at-bat from home run from Lassiter inconsequential.\u00a0<\/p>\n MORE: Volts inspiring next generation of Central Texas softball players\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The Volts had just five hits and committed three errors. The Cascade had seven hits and played errorless softball. The teams combined\u00a0for just eight strikeouts total Saturday.<\/p>\n Texas starter NiJaree Canady, an All-American at Texas Tech, allowed four runs over 3\u2153 innings. She was plagued by walks (four).<\/p>\n Texas Volts pitcher NiJaree Canady (24) walks off the field ahead of the game against the Portland Cascades at Dell Diamond on Sunday, June 28, 2026 in Round Rock, Texas.<\/p>\n Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n Portland’s Kenzie Brown, an All-American with Arizona State, lasted just 2\u2153 with two strikeouts, two walks and two earned runs. Gottshall was credited with the victory, tossing one-run ball over 4\u2154 innings.\u00a0Vidales was 1-for-4 with a two-RBI double\u00a0and fellow ex-Aggie Kennedy Powell was 1-for-4 with a run scored.\u00a0 Cascade outfielder Ashton\u00a0Maloney, who spent five season on the Texas Longhorns<\/a> roster,\u00a0entered the game as a pinch-runner and played briefly defensively in her return to the Austin area.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Eight\u00a0different Cascade players reached with either a hit or a walk Saturday. Goode was 0-for-2 with a sacrifice RBI.\u00a0<\/p>\n Texas, having lost three straight, hits the road to play Tuesday and Wednesday at\u00a0the first-place Utah Talons.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Portland Cascades utility player Megan Grant (43) runs home for a score after a home run hit during…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":354164,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[56518,27,29,28,53535,126032],"class_list":["post-354163","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-ausl","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news","tag-texas-volts","tag-utah-talons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354163","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=354163"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354163\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/354164"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=354163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=354163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=354163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/p>\n
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