CHADRON – Solid pitching performances proved to be the difference as Chadron State College split a pair of Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference games with Metro State and Fort Lewis Saturday in Chadron. The “pod schedule” has one team host 2 others with each playing the others once each each day.
Aryn Grywusiewicz tossed a complete game and allowed just three hits to lead the Eagles (11-17, 9-12 RMAC) to their 4-2 victory in the day’s opener, but Fort Lewis pitcher Victoria Johnson allowed just 3 hits and one earned run in the Skyhawks’ 6-4 victory in the finale.
Fort Lewis (9-18, 7-15 RMAC) also defeated Metro State (12-19, 5-14 RMAC) in the second game Saturday, 11-10…blowing a 6-0 lead when Metro scored 9 in the4th, but coming back and winning on a throwing error in the 7th.
The same three teams will play three games Sunday with Fort Lewis and Metro State still at noon and CSC still at 10:00 and 2:00, but the Eagles will play Fort Lewis first and Metro State second…the reverse of Saturday’s order.
Metro State got its first run against Grywusiewicz in the 3rd inning on a double, but the Eagles answered in the bottom of the inning on a sacrifice fly by Nikki Ritzen that Nikki Ritzen that plated Ashlynn Marino.
CSC got the winning runs an inning later when Katie Londo led off with a double and went to 3rd on a single up the middle by Amy Schartz . Following a fly out, Rebecca Wetsch hit an RBI single and Marino added a 2-RBI double.
Metro State’s Mary Towner hit a towering solo home run in the top of the fifth but Grywusiewicz got the Roadrunners out in order in the 6th and 7th innings to preserve the win. She ended the game with a strikeout, her 6th of the day against just one loss as she improved to 5-10 following 3 tough losses.
Against Fort Lewis, the Eagles scored t3 runs in the bottom of the 1st inning without the benefit of a hit on a walk and 3 errors, but the Skyhawks plated two runs in the 2nd…both unearned… and 3 more in the 4th, the big blow being a 2-run homer by Mariah Stuart, her first of the season, to take a 5-3 lead.
Johnson, who also was the winning pitcher against Metro State, retired 10 straight and didn’t allow a hit until the 5th when she gave up doubles to Marino and pinch-hitter Katelyn Kruger to score their final run. The Skyhawks got the run back on a solo homer by Chelsea Rodgrigues, who also went deep in the Metro state game.
All 3 CSC hitters in the 6th hit the ball hard, but right at someone…with Johnson taking one shot off her knee, but still able to throw out the runner.
She was replaced in the 7th by Katie Watkins, who allowed 2 runners on a hit and another error but did not allow a run to get the save.
Alex Helmbrecht, Sports Information Director