University of Northern Colorado Athletics
Friday, March 25
Greeley, Colo.
1:00 PM
University of Northern Colorado
4-19, 0-1
6
vs
9
University of Montana
10-16, 1-0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
R
H
E
Montana
0
0
1
0
2
0
3
3
9
13
0
NORTHERN COLORADO
0
0
3
0
2
0
1
0
6
10
2
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Young, Haley (4-1)
L: Reddacliff, Jayme (4-8)
Batting:
2B: Stites, Sydney 2
RBI: Stites, Sydney 1 ; Brenneis, Lexie 2 ; Colburn, Delene 2 ; Olea, Bethany 1 ; Saacke, Madison 1 ; Lyons, Ashlyn 1
SF: Colburn, Delene 1
Base Running:
RUNS: McGill, MaKenna 2 ; Stites, Sydney 4 ; Brenneis, Lexie 1 ; Olea, Bethany 1 ; Martinez, Gabby 1
SB: Martinez, Gabby 1
HBP: Lyons, Ashlyn 1
Batting:
2B: Dick, Erica 1
3B: Dick, Erica 1
HR: Garcia, Kaley 1 ; Wiatrak, Jordyn 1
RBI: Garcia, Kaley 1 ; Dick, Erica 1 ; Paige, Lauren 1 ; Johnson, Rachel 1 ; Samaniego, Ari 1 ; Wiatrak, Jordyn 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Schmidt, Madi 1 ; Garcia, Kaley 1 ; Dick, Erica 2 ; Kudrna, Kenzie 1 ; Wiatrak, Jordyn 1
SB: Kudrna, Kenzie 1
CS: Garcia, Kaley 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
2
H
3
RBI
1
AB
3
R
0
H
2
RBI
1
AB
5
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
INF
/ Softball
INF
/ SoftballOF
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
INF/P
/ Softball
P
/ SoftballC
/ SoftballOF
/ Softball
C/INF
/ Softball
Photo by: Ed Navarro
@BearsSoftball Drops Two Games Against Montana
3/25/2016 8:01:00 PM | Softball
The Bears lost the first two games of the three-game series against the Griz 9-6 and 10-6
GREELEY, Colo. – Northern Colorado (4-20, 0-2 Big Sky) dropped the first two games of its Big Sky opening series against Montana (11-16, 2-0 Big Sky) on Friday. The Bears jumped out to early leads in both contests, but couldn't hold on, falling in game one 9-6 (8) and 10-6 in game two.
Game 1:
Two game-tying, career-first home runs weren't enough as the Bears gave up an early lead (3-1) over Montana to drop the game 9-6 in extra innings.
The bats were hot early for UNC, scoring three runs in the bottom of the third. A lead off long ball from Jordyn Wiatrak tied the game up at 1-1 with the Griz. An Erica Dick double pushed across the leading run, and a Lauren Paige screamer past first base ending the scoring, giving the Bears a two-run advantage.
The game was quiet in the fourth inning, but UM tied the game up in the top half of the fifth getting runners on due to a throwing error on Wiatrak.
Both runs for the Griz in the inning were unearned.
UNC refused to go away, matching Montana with two runs of its own thanks to a one-out triple from Dick which jump started the inning. Johnson eventually scored Dick on a ground out to short and an RBI single from Ari Samaniego aided in Northern Colorado retaking the lead, 5-3.
Montana was down to its final three outs before rallying for three unanswered runs in the top of the seventh, making it a 6-5 ball game.
Suddenly the Bears were the team on the hot seat, but that was short lived after a one out bomb from Kaley Garcia, tying it up at six apiece. The HR was also a career-first for Garcia.
Unfortunately UM picked up right where they left off, scoring three more runs in the top of the eighth to take the final lead and series opener, 9-6.
Jayme Reddacliff (4-8) earned the loss for UNC. Reddacliff went 7.1 innings, giving up seven runs (four earned) on 11 hits and faced 38 batters.
Game Changer:
Montana rallied for three runs on three hits in the top of the seventh inning to take a 6-5 lead over UNC. The Bears had to play catch up after that and were unable to answer UM's bats.
Key Stat:
Erica Dick was a home run shy of the cycle. She finished 3-4 with a single, double and triple with an RBI and two runs in the loss.
In Coach Easley's Words:
"I certainly thought in both games especially early in the game that we were in control offensively. Defensively in the first game we had the opportunity to shut the door and weren't able to execute. I think a lot of our hitters are coming around and having more quality at bats, so that's good. Our offense has been better over the last couple of weeks, but we have to get it done defensively."
Game 2:
The Bears came out of the gates swinging, putting up four runs in the first two innings. A sac fly from Rachel Johnson in the bottom half of the first gave the team a 1-0 advantage. UNC made the best of a Montana error in the second, plating two more runs. Erica Dick ended the inning with an RBI single up the middle, pushing across Sarah Fitzherbert.
The Griz cut the Bears lead to one (4-3) the very next inning.
Northern Colorado rallied to match UM's two-run inning in the bottom of the fourth after Madi Schmidt earned a walk and a Fitzherbert single put runners on first and second with no outs.
Dick came through again in the clutch with a line drive double over the Montana center fielder to bring home Schmidt.
Fitzherbert touched home on a balk by the Griz pitcher to score UNC's final run of the game and give the home team a 6-3 lead.
UNC couldn't close out the contest even with a solid performance in the circle from Kelli Kleis (0-7). Kleis was good for 6.1 innings, giving up nine runs (seven earned) on nine hits with five strikeouts.
Montana tacked on four more runs in the top of the fifth to tie the game and then used a three-run seventh inning to shut the door on the Bears.
Game Changer:
An error by UNC in the top of the fifth inning on a two-RBI double opened the door for Montana. The Griz scored two more runs (both unearned) to finish out the inning and take the lead 7-6.
Key Stat:
Kelli Kleis struck out a season-best five batters in the second game loss. She struck out the side in the top of the 6th to keep UNC in the game.
In Coach Easley's Words:
"When the opportunity presents itself we have to make sure we can execute and shut the door if we need to shut the door, or simply make a play on defense as we struggled to back up our pitchers today. When we have the chance to attack a batter early, or execute with runners on we have to take advantage and have the confidence to perform in those situations."
Notables:
- Jordyn Wiatrak hit her first career home run in the game one loss. The long ball was the only hit of the game for the freshman.
- Kaley Garcia also hit her first career long ball in game one. Garcia was also 1-3 with her only hit being the home run.
- Erica Dick went 4-4 with RBI in game two. Combined, she finished the day 7-8 (.875 avg.) with three RBI and two runs.
- Between the two contests Northern Colorado stranded 16 runners on base.
The softball team closes out the three-game series against Montana on Saturday, March 26. First pitch is set for 1:00 p.m.
Game 1:
Two game-tying, career-first home runs weren't enough as the Bears gave up an early lead (3-1) over Montana to drop the game 9-6 in extra innings.
The bats were hot early for UNC, scoring three runs in the bottom of the third. A lead off long ball from Jordyn Wiatrak tied the game up at 1-1 with the Griz. An Erica Dick double pushed across the leading run, and a Lauren Paige screamer past first base ending the scoring, giving the Bears a two-run advantage.
The game was quiet in the fourth inning, but UM tied the game up in the top half of the fifth getting runners on due to a throwing error on Wiatrak.
Both runs for the Griz in the inning were unearned.
UNC refused to go away, matching Montana with two runs of its own thanks to a one-out triple from Dick which jump started the inning. Johnson eventually scored Dick on a ground out to short and an RBI single from Ari Samaniego aided in Northern Colorado retaking the lead, 5-3.
Montana was down to its final three outs before rallying for three unanswered runs in the top of the seventh, making it a 6-5 ball game.
Suddenly the Bears were the team on the hot seat, but that was short lived after a one out bomb from Kaley Garcia, tying it up at six apiece. The HR was also a career-first for Garcia.
Unfortunately UM picked up right where they left off, scoring three more runs in the top of the eighth to take the final lead and series opener, 9-6.
Jayme Reddacliff (4-8) earned the loss for UNC. Reddacliff went 7.1 innings, giving up seven runs (four earned) on 11 hits and faced 38 batters.
Game Changer:
Montana rallied for three runs on three hits in the top of the seventh inning to take a 6-5 lead over UNC. The Bears had to play catch up after that and were unable to answer UM's bats.
Key Stat:
Erica Dick was a home run shy of the cycle. She finished 3-4 with a single, double and triple with an RBI and two runs in the loss.
In Coach Easley's Words:
"I certainly thought in both games especially early in the game that we were in control offensively. Defensively in the first game we had the opportunity to shut the door and weren't able to execute. I think a lot of our hitters are coming around and having more quality at bats, so that's good. Our offense has been better over the last couple of weeks, but we have to get it done defensively."
Game 2:
The Bears came out of the gates swinging, putting up four runs in the first two innings. A sac fly from Rachel Johnson in the bottom half of the first gave the team a 1-0 advantage. UNC made the best of a Montana error in the second, plating two more runs. Erica Dick ended the inning with an RBI single up the middle, pushing across Sarah Fitzherbert.
The Griz cut the Bears lead to one (4-3) the very next inning.
Northern Colorado rallied to match UM's two-run inning in the bottom of the fourth after Madi Schmidt earned a walk and a Fitzherbert single put runners on first and second with no outs.
Dick came through again in the clutch with a line drive double over the Montana center fielder to bring home Schmidt.
Fitzherbert touched home on a balk by the Griz pitcher to score UNC's final run of the game and give the home team a 6-3 lead.
UNC couldn't close out the contest even with a solid performance in the circle from Kelli Kleis (0-7). Kleis was good for 6.1 innings, giving up nine runs (seven earned) on nine hits with five strikeouts.
Montana tacked on four more runs in the top of the fifth to tie the game and then used a three-run seventh inning to shut the door on the Bears.
Game Changer:
An error by UNC in the top of the fifth inning on a two-RBI double opened the door for Montana. The Griz scored two more runs (both unearned) to finish out the inning and take the lead 7-6.
Key Stat:
Kelli Kleis struck out a season-best five batters in the second game loss. She struck out the side in the top of the 6th to keep UNC in the game.
In Coach Easley's Words:
"When the opportunity presents itself we have to make sure we can execute and shut the door if we need to shut the door, or simply make a play on defense as we struggled to back up our pitchers today. When we have the chance to attack a batter early, or execute with runners on we have to take advantage and have the confidence to perform in those situations."
Notables:
- Jordyn Wiatrak hit her first career home run in the game one loss. The long ball was the only hit of the game for the freshman.
- Kaley Garcia also hit her first career long ball in game one. Garcia was also 1-3 with her only hit being the home run.
- Erica Dick went 4-4 with RBI in game two. Combined, she finished the day 7-8 (.875 avg.) with three RBI and two runs.
- Between the two contests Northern Colorado stranded 16 runners on base.
The softball team closes out the three-game series against Montana on Saturday, March 26. First pitch is set for 1:00 p.m.
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