@BearsSoftball Ends Road Trip on High Note

Saturday, March 18

Northridge, CA

12:00pm

University of Northern Colorado

11-19

California State University, Northridge

15-11

Northern Colorado

CSUN

Photo by: Mark Aguirre

3/18/2017 5:14:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

By: Thomas Hoffman, uncbears.com

GAME 1 (PDF) | GAME 2 (PDF)

Northridge, Calif – Saturday began with a little heartbreak for Northern Colorado Softball and their fans, watching Cal State Northridge steal one from under their noses, 6-5, in eight innings. However, the Blue and Gold bounced right back with a victory over Bryant, 4-1.

GAME 1
Both the Bears and the Matadors drew blanks in the opening frame, waiting until the second to start the scoring.

Jayme Reddacliff, who hadn't given up an earned run all week long, continued her solid play, opening with four consecutive outs. On a single in the bottom half of the second, the first CSUN base runner made her way to second on a throwing error from Adeline Coldiron. A batter later, she would make her way home off a double. Though the Matadors took the early 1-0 lead, the error labeled the run as unearned, keeping Reddacliff's streak going.

In both in the third and fourth innings, Northern Colorado advanced a duo of runners on the base pads. However, in consecutive innings, the Bears left a duo stranded, allowing CSUN to keep their lead, 1-0.

The Bears offense got cooking in the fifth inning when Cheyenne Talmadge drew up her first base hit of the game. After a grounder moved her over to second, Kenzie Kudrna's single brought her home, and to add insult to injury for the Matadors, Kudrna advanced to second on an error, leaving the Bears in scoring position. Once Rachel Johnson reached on a walk, Jordyn Wiatrak wasted no time driving in Kudrna with an RBI single.

In the circle, Jayme Reddaclif was doing Jayme Reddacliff things. Knowing her stellar defense was behind her every step of the way, Reddacliff did only what she needed to, keep the ball in the ballpark.

Twice, in the fifth and sixth innings, CSUN looked to threaten to re-tie the game. However, a double play in the fifth on a heads up play from UNC's outstanding catcher, Adeline Coldiron, and three straight solid defensive plays in the sixth kept the Matadors at bay, keeping the 2-1 lead for the Blue and Gold.

Tragedy struck in the bottom of the seventh inning. A one-out triple brought in the tying run for CSUN and placed the winning run just sixty feet away with only one out in the inning. Reddacliff and her defense weren't about to let the Matadors spoil their good weekend, though, forcing two quick outs to send the contest to an extra eighth inning.

As Kaley Garcia was placed on second, Jordyn Wiatrak quickly moved her over to third and managed to reach safely all in the same motion. Adeline Coldiron saw an opportunity that she just couldn't pass up. The senior catcher laced a single to right center, made it all the way to second off the right fielder's miscue and plated Garcia and Wiatrak in the process.

Emily Holtz added to the cause, dialing up an RBI single. Though Holtz would be caught trying to stretch a single into a double, Northern Colorado levied their largest lead of the game, 5-2.

Two straight singles from CSUN brought in their placed runner, climbed within two, and prompted Shana Easley to call upon Lauren Paige to finish the game off. For the second time in as many innings, the Matadors managed to fight back, but not only did CSUN managed to tie the game, on a fielder's choice, they plated their fourth run of the inning, stealing a win from underneath the Bears' fingertips, 6-5.

GAME 2
Looking to bounce back quickly after a tough loss, Northern Colorado starting pitcher, Valerie Vidal neatly blanked the bulldogs in the top half of the first inning. Rachel Johnson then dialed up a double to bring in Erica Dick, jumping out to a 1-0 start.

Bryant earned their run right back in the second inning. A triple and an RBI sacrifice fly tied the game at one a piece.

A Lauren Paige walk to start the third inning for the Bears gave way to opportunity for UNC to re-take the lead. Sophia Taylor, capping off a stellar week for the freshman, singled up the middle to regain the one run advantage.

Kelli Kleis came in relief of Vidal to start the top of the third inning and started to settle into a groove during the middle parts of the ball game. From the beginning of the third to the end of the sixth, Kleis and the Northern Colorado defense gave up only one hit.

Offensively, the Bears weren't satisfied with just a one run lead. Once again Lauren Paige provided the spark, this time in the fifth inning, utilizing a single of her own to drive in Cheyenne Talmadge to extend the UNC lead by another run.

Not to be outdone, in the sixth inning, Talmadge had the opportunity to drive in an insurance RBI of her own with Kaley Garcia standing on second. A single on a 2-0 pitch brought in Garcia, allowing the Bears some breathing room with a 4-1 lead.

Staring at another three-run lead in the final inning of a ballgame, head coach Shana Easley wanted to make sure they finished this one out right. After a lead-off single, Chandler Elsner came in to close out the Bulldogs. A feat which she accomplished with a fly out and two groundouts to secure UNC's 12^th victory of the season, 4-1.

KEY STAT
On base percentage – Northern Colorado was able to boast a .354 on base percentage, while Bryant and CSUN combined for .228.

MOST VALUABLE BEAR
Cheyenne Talmadge – Talmadge went 4-7 (.571) with a double, two runs, an RBI, five total bases and a stolen base.

IN THEIR WORDS
Shana Easley, Head Coach
"I was proud of our bounce back in the second game after a tough loss. We grew a lot as a team during these spring break games and will continue learning and improving as we move into conference play this week."

NOTABLES
-Five UNC batters, Cheyenne Talmadge, Kaley Garcia, Lauren Paige, Sophia Taylor and Emily Holtz batted north of .300 Saturday afternoon.
-The Bears were a perfect 2-2 in stolen bases today.
-Northern Colorado continues to show patience at the plate, drawing nine walks Saturday.
-Kelli Kleis did a little bit of everything, pitching brilliantly in the win against Bryant and leading the team in RBI with two.

UP NEXT
Northern Colorado now begins Big Sky Conference play. They'll open with Southern Utah in Cedar City next Friday, March 24. UNC's first home conference contests comes against Weber State on April 7.