Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 SPEARFISH, S.D. – The Cowgirls exploded for 19 runs in only 12 innings – including run ruling a team for the first time this season – as the New Mexico Highlands softball team (11-19, 7-14 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) won its sixth-straight game with a 7-2 win in game one and a 12-4 victory in five innings in game two over Black Hills State (1-18, 1-13 RMAC) Sunday morning (March 30) in Spearfish, S.D.
"We played great this weekend," head coach
Karin Gadberry said. "Anytime you can get a sweep, especially on the road, is great."
It was Highlands first weekend sweep of the same team in at least seven years. The Cowgirls swept a pod last season at home (two games each against Black Hills State and Chadron State) and in 2012 won a pair of midweek doubleheaders against Western New Mexico.
In both games, the Cowgirls fell behind by a run and immediately had a big response in the next half inning. In game one, Black Hills State went ahead 2-1 before Highlands took the lead with a four-spot in the top of the fourth. Junior
Jessica Brink led off the inning with a walk before sophomore
Amber Cordero singled. A sacrifice bunt and a walk to junior
Amber Harding loaded the bases with one out. A strikeout looked as if it would end the Cowgirls threat, but redshirt freshman
Annie Reynolds lined the first pitch she saw to left center to empty the bases and put the visitors up 4-2. After an error, junior
Tori Gil singled to drive in Reynolds and put Highlands up 5-2.
Reynolds drove in a pair the next inning for the final runs of the game. She led the Cowgirls from the leadoff spot for the game with three hits in four at-bats with five RBI's and a run scored. Despite the winds howling in, Brink hit a solo shot to left center for her fifth home run of the season. She finished the game 2-for-3 with a walk, two runs scored and an RBI. Junior
Jacquelyn Wood improved to 6-7 in the circle for the season, allowing nine hits and two runs over seven innings.
In game two, after the Cowgirls allowed an unearned run in the bottom of the first, Highlands exploded for 11 runs – its most productive inning of the season – to take control of the game. Two players reached when they were hit by a pitch around a Brink single to quickly load the bases. Harding drew a walk to tie the ballgame before senior
Dominique Padilla put the visitors in the lead with a single to left center that drove in a pair. A bloop single by freshman
Aricia Dami reloaded the bases before the Cowgirls played position-to-position softball on a single by Reynolds.
Already up 4-1 with the bases loaded and still nobody out, a costly error scored a pair and moved a pair into scoring position. Wood hit a ball to the shortstop who threw home, but the throw was wild as the runner was safe and another touched home plate. Sophomore
Dekota Monarrez opened up an 8-1 lead when she plated a pair with a single. Monarrez advanced to third on a Gil double. A groundout finally gave the Yellow Jackets its first out after eight runs scored in the frame, but Cordero emptied the bases when she doubled down the left field line and advanced to third on the throw home. Harding grounded out to produce the 11th run of the frame.
Despite the offensive explosion, Padilla is the only player with multiple hits on the game as she finished with two hits, three RBI's and a run scored. Gil, Cordero and Harding all scored twice in the game.
Every Cowgirl who batted in game two scored a run.
Brink took the five-inning win in game two, allowing four runs (one earned) while allowing five hits with five strikeouts to improve to 5-9 on the year.
Continuing a wild third, Black Hills State scored a trio of runs to push the lead back to only seven. Sara Schmid singled before scoring from first on a double by Rebecca Green. With two down, Katherine Drake reached on an error that scored Green. Ryan Cook added an RBI single as the Cowgirls led 11-4.
Leadoff hitter Nia Shumpert led the Yellow Jackets in game two with two hits in three at-bats with a run scored. Savanah Eckhardt took the loss in the circle, falling to 0-6 in 2014 by allowing only two hits but five runs (four earned) in one inning of work. Kaitlin Farrar took the loss in game on and also fell to 0-6.
The Cowgirls pushed across that ever-important 12th run in the fifth inning of game two when Harding led off the frame with a single and scored on Padilla's double. Brink closed out the game by forcing three flyouts in only five pitches in the bottom of the fifth.
The Cowgirls put their six-game winning streak on the line Wednesday (April 2) when it travels to Eastern New Mexico for a double header beginning at one.
