Chadron State College softball won its home opener in style Friday, showing some rejuvenation on offense by batting .458 (11-for-24) in a 10-2 run-shortened victory over visiting New Mexico Highlands University in five innings.
The second game scheduled for Friday was postponed after copious amounts of rapidly melting snow turned field conditions unplayable by the conclusion of game one. Play is expected to resume at 10 a.m. on Saturday and continue until three additional games are complete.
CSC pitcher Jessica Jarecki notched eight strikeouts, four of which comprised the first four outs of the game, holding the Cowgirls to .227 in the batter’s box.
The Eagles exploded for six runs in the bottom of the second inning, thanks in large part to a two-run home run by Angelica Maples with no outs. The homer followed a two-RBI single by Leilani Niccum and the game-winning RBI by Kendyl Moody.
NMHU got two runs back in the fourth, when the Cowgirls got three of their five base hits in the game. One of those was a two-run blast by Brooklynn DeLozier to right field, which was helped by an eastward wind upwards of 20 miles per hour.
Chadron State’s remaining four runs came on back to back homers by Ellie Owensand Julia Elbert in the bottom of the fourth. Owens’s was a three-run shot, plating Aspen Eubanks and Francine Boston, while Elbert’s was solo.
Owens and Niccum each finished 2-for-3 at the plate, while Kayla Michel batted 2-for-2 with one walk.
Desiree Bogarin took the loss for the Cowgirls in the circle, giving up six runs, all earned, in the second. Isabella Scarale came in at the bottom of the third in relief, giving up the four earned runs in the fourth. Each pitcher hurled two complete innings.
CSC improved to 3-12, and 1-4 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, while NMHU fell to 2-10 (0-5 RMAC).
Eagles Take Two Saturday
Chadron State College softball continued to produce offensively on Saturday, finishing the second day of play at home against New Mexico Highlands University with 25 runs on 22 hits in a pair of Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference wins.
The games began at noon after the team spent the entire morning working diligently to dry the field sufficiently.
CSC pounced on Highlands early, scoring an 18-0 triumph in five innings in the first contest of the day.
Eagle pitcher Jessica Jarecki tossed a one-hit shutout, fanning seven batters. She entered the top of the fifth and final inning with 18 runs behind her and a perfect game on the line, before the Cowgirls recorded one hit and one walk.
The runs came fast and furious for Chadron State, beginning with an unearned run in the first when Kayla Michel scored from first on a single by Aspen Eubanks and a throwing error on the play.
True freshman Leilani Niccum solo homered in the second, before sophomore Alyssa Geist recorded her first career home run with a three-run shot to put together a four-run second inning.
The die was cast for the Eagles in the third inning, as they strung together eight runs with the aid of two Cowgirl errors. Julia Elbert‘s sac fly in the fourth plate appearance of the inning started the run, which took a major turn with Angelica Maples‘s three-run homer. Another homer, this time by Eubanks, was followed by pinch-hitter Francine Boston‘s RBI single to give the Eagles a 13-0 lead.
More pinch-hitting in the fourth produced an additional five runs as Lauren Renckrecorded the game’s only triple, and Jessica Kleine doubled to bring her teammate in. Allie Mason served up the game’s final home run, putting three more runs across to get to the 18-0 final score.
The 7-2 CSC win in the latter contest was decided on a two-run homer by Niccum in the second inning. That stroke gave the Eagles a 3-0 lead after an RBI single from Eubanks in the first, and pitcher Megan Horn struck out 13 Highlands batters, holding the Cowgirls to two unearned runs, to complete the sweep.
Michel added a homer in the third inning, and CSC went into the sixth up 7-0, before NMHU finally got on the board for the first time all day.
For the series, Niccum led the Eagles batting 6-for-7 with five runs scored, seven RBI, and two home runs, and a double, posting an amazing 1.857 slugging percentage and a .875 on-base percentage.
Eubanks and Maples each posted five RBI apiece. Michel batted .500 (4-for-8) while walking three times.
The pitchers for CSC, both undefeated for the weekend, each allowed the Cowgirls to hit slightly over .150 as a team, totaling 28 strikeouts in 17 innings pitched.
Spring Break on the CSC campus will be no obstacle for the softball team, as they remain at home next weekend to host Regis University, which is 10-8 (5-1 RMAC) after winning nine of its last 10 games with two to be played Sunday versus Colorado School of Mines.