Chadron State College starting pitchers Megan Horn and Jessica Jarecki combined to allow only three earned runs on eight hits, striking out 16 in 12 innings on the first day of the 2018 softball season at the Lubbock Softball Classic on Friday.
“Both pitchers really showed off,” said coach Kaley Scearcy, “and they put us in an opportunity to win both games. Leading up to the tournament, we tried to scout both teams, and pick out what their weaknesses might be. Zoe [Humphries] did a really good job of calling pitches, too.”
Led by home runs by freshman catcher Leilani Niccum in the first two at-bats of her collegiate career, CSC hitters pounded out 16 runs on as many hits in a 16-3 run-rule win over the University of Texas Permian Basin in a morning tilt. In the afternoon game, the host Lady Chaps took advantage of a couple of timely base hits and one home run as Lubbock Christian University downed the Eagles 3-0.
“The girls really stepped up,” said Scearcy. “We came out strong against Permian Basin, hit a wall, and then really came back at the end. That’s really fun to see. The girls had a great mentality, and they set their minds once they realized they could see the pitches being thrown. That made all the difference for us.”
The Eagles started out batting 6-for-10 against UTPB’s Sloan Springfield, with triples by Francine Boston and Alyssa Geist, sandwiched around Niccum’s first homer. The Falcons went to a new pitcher, Cindy Juarez after just one and one-third innings. Juarez got two quick outs and retired the side in three straight innings, in order with the lone exception of Niccum’s second at-bat.
Permian scratched out two runs in the fourth and one in the fifth, to get back to 5-3 headed into the sixth inning. Sophomore Allie Mason broke the Eagles’ hitting slump with a two-run shot to left, starting an 11-0 run on a 9-for-10 batting spree during which Mason also singled for her third RBI of the day. Springfield re-entered to get the final two outs, but the game was out of reach at that point.
Sophomore Megan Horn pitched the complete game to go to 1-0, recording 10 strikeouts in six innings.
In the afternoon game, junior Monique Francois scattered three CSC hits, striking out 11, to earn the shutout in the season opener for LCU. A scoring error and a passed ball put a runner on third for the Lady Chaps. Junior Morgan Dufour capitalized, sending the run home. Lubbock homered in the second, and their only other run came in the fifth on a walk, sac bunt, single combo.
Aspen Eubanks was 1-for-1, singling to lead off the second inning, but the Eagles could not take advantage. She also walked once and was hit by a pitch. CSC’s two other base hits came from Kendyl Moody and Kayla Michel, whose single allowed two baserunners in the sixth but was not enough to plate a run.
“There was a lot of heart out there,” said Scearcy. “It was a fun day, and it was a day to walk away and be proud.”
The Eagles are back on the diamond Saturday with Midwestern State on the schedule at 10 a.m. MT, and a rematch with UTPB slated for 2:30.