COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The Chadron State College softball team split a Sunday doubleheader at the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs, winning first game 6-2 and losing the second 14-11.
After splitting a Saturday doubleheader with the Mountain Lions as well, the Eagles stand 8-24 on the season and 8-12 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference while UCCS is 13-14 and 11-11.
Sunday’s first game was a pitcher’s duel between CSC’s Tayler Hall and Stephanie Chitkowski of Colorado Springs with the Mountain Lions scoring the only run of the first 5 innings in the 3rd on a wild pitch.
The Eagles finally got the offense untracked in the 6th when Zoe Humphries slammed a 2-run home run to take the lead, 2-1. UCCS tied the game in the bottom of the 6th off of an unearned run, but then CSC scored 4 times in the 7th courtesy of the long ball.
Shea Graham led off with a solo home run to left field to retake the lead 3-2 and Taylor Bauer smashed her third home run of the series to give the Eagles back-to-back homers and 4-2 margin.
UCCS got a pair of groundball outs, but Aspen Eubanks walked on a full county and Casey Polk followed with a 2-run shot over the rightfield fences to make it 6-2.
Hall capped the game with a 1-2-3 bottom of the 7th, striking out the first and last batters to secure her 8th victory of the season. Hall gave up just 4 hits while striking out 8 and walking none.
The second game was a wild slugfest that saw each team hit 4 home runs.
Springs scored 3 runs in the bottom of the 1st, including a leadoff home run, but the Eagles countered with 6 runs in the top of the 2nd.
The first 2 came on back-to-back homers by Humphries and Katelyn Kruger, her fourth of the series. The other 4 runs were the result of RBI singles by Bauer, Courtney Lecher, Amanda Einspahr, and Polk.
UCCS answered right back with 4 runs in the bottom of the inning, the big blow a 3-run blast by RMAC home run leader Dani Fonseca, to regain the lead at 7-6.
Back came the Eagles the next inning with a 2-run homer from Jessica Eatmon for an 8-7 lead, but UCCS matched that in their half of the inning with another solo homer.
The Mountain Lions then posted a 6-spot of their own in the bottom of the 4th that included another 3-run homer to go up 14-8.
CSC got a run back in the 6th on a solo homer from Humphries, her second of the game and had the tying run at the plate in the top of the 7th after an RBI single by Rebecca Anthony, but Becca Prokaski struck out to end the game.
The Eagles pounded out 15 hits – 6 for extra bases – with Lecher, Humphries, Kruger, Eatmon, and Bauer eaching getting a pair.
Cierra Coslett took the loss to fall to 0-10 on the season, giving up 9 hits and 8 runs – 7 of them earned – in 4-1/3 innings while Haylee McKeehan was roughed up for 6 runs – all earned – on 6 hits, and each of them had a single strikeout and a single walk.
Chadron State College hosts Regis University this weekend, but the games will be Friday and Saturday because of the Easter weekend. The first pitch Friday is set for noon, with Saturday’s opener at 11:00.