Cowgirls drop two games on Saturday to Fort Lewis

Durango, CO --- The New Mexico Highlands softball team drought continues after dropping two games to Fort Lewis on Saturday afternoon in Durango, CO.
 
Fort Lewis (10-16, 10-12 RMAC) jumped out to an early lead, scoring the first five runs of the afternoon before the Cowgirls (5-23, 5-23 RMAC) got on the board in the top half of the fourth with a solo home run from Carlee Gonzalez (Fr; Rocklin, CA). The Skyhawks then rallied three runs in the home half of the fourth to take an 8-1 lead.
 
In the top of the sixth inning, the Cowgirls saw the bases loaded after Megan Gutierrez walked (Fr; Whittier, CA), Gonzalez singled to left and Taylor Fish (Fr; Wildomar, CA) reached on a fielder's choice. Samantha Gamboa stepped in with one out and drove a fly ball to deep left field to score Gutierrez with a sacrifice fly.
 
But, the Skyhawks quickly answered with a double and a home run, to take game three of the four-game series, 10-2.
 
Gonzales led the team with two hits and an RBI while Camrynn Ziegler (Jr; El Paso, TX) and Gamboa each added a hit to cap off all four Cowgirl hits on the game.
 
Gamboa (0-7) received the start in the circle after throwing for 2.1 innings and giving up five runs off four hits while Cassidy Munoz pitched for 2.2 innings also giving up five runs off seven hits.
 
The Cowgirls used the momentum from game three to score two quick runs in the top of the first inning in game four as Gonzalez hit her second home run of the day – a two run shot to give the Cowgirls a 2-0 advantage.
 
After holding the Skyhawks coreless for three innings, the Cowgirls added three insurance runs in the top of the fourth inning that was sparked by an error from FLC short stop Courtney Huff.
 
The Skyhawks responded with three runs of their own in the bottom of the fourth to cut the Cowgirls lead to 5-3.
 
A double-steal and a double from FLC Brianna Leavell tied the game at five in the bottom of the fifth inning before taking the lead 7-5 in the bottom of the sixth inning with a fielding error from Gutierrez at third base.
 
The Skyhawks held the Cowgirls scoreless in the top of the seventh inning, to finish of the series sweep over the Cowgirls with a 7-5 win in game four.
 
Tamia Yellowman (Fr; Phoenix, AZ) finished the game with two hits and two RBI as pitcher Nathalie Blattmann (Abottsville, Cananda) moves to 3-12 on the season after giving up seven runs off ten hits.
 
The Cowgirls will be at home next weekend as they are scheduled to host CSU Pueblo for a four-game series with a double-header scheduled for 12 pm on Saturday April 17^th.
 
GO COWGIRLS!!