CSU Tops @BearsSoftball in Thrilling Home Opener

Tuesday, March 7

Greeley, CO

4:00 pm

University of Northern Colorado

5-14

Colorado State University

11-4

Colorado State

Northern Colorado

3/7/2017 7:31:00 PM | Softball

Box Score

By: Thomas Hoffman, uncbears.com

BOX SCORE (PDF)

Greeley, Colo – Northern Colorado Softball hosted their in-state foes Tuesday afternoon at newly-renovated, Gloria Rodriguez Field. Colorado State played spoilers, however, taking the game, 8-5, with some late-inning heroics.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Colorado State jumped out to a quick lead, drawing up a two-run home run in the top of the first inning. Despite giving up the two-out homer, starting pitcher Kelli Kleis rebounded nicely, forcing a ground out to get the Bears out of the inning.

Both pitchers began to find their rhythm in the second inning. Kleis would surrender a walk in the top half, but keep the Ram runner at bay, recording two consecutive outs to give her offense another crack at the plate.

Each team threatened scoring in the third inning. The Bear defense drew up a nifty 1-2-3 double play to get themselves out of a bases loaded jam. In the bottom half, CSU returned the favor, stranding two UNC runners on the base pads to keep their 2-0 advantage.

An error in the fourth inning gave CSU a chance to further their advantage. The Rams would capitalize, scoring a pair of runs, both unearned for Jayme Reddacliff, who had come in to pitch for Kleis.

Unearned runs continued to be a theme in the bottom half of the fourth inning when the Bears were afforded a couple of base runners on Colorado State mistakes. A Sophia Taylor double, balk and a wild pitch allowed Northern Colorado three important runs to climb within one.

Sensing the Bears nipping at their heals, the Rams quickly loaded the bases in the fifth inning in an attempt to pull away from the home squad. The UNC defense remained stout, however, stranding three CSU runners and only allowing one run to keep themselves within arm's reach.

Kenzie Kudrna led off the bottom half of the inning with a walk, and after Rachel Johnson struck out, Jordyn Wiatrak, the UNC's co-leader in home runs stepped up to the plate. Wiatrak dialed up one of her patented long-balls sending a deep home run to centerfield, tying the game at five.

In the sixth inning, Chandler Elsner replaced Reddacliff, who need to attend an academic endeavor. Colorado pulled a page out of Wiatrak's book, using the a couple of hits and a two-run homer to take a three-run lead with two frames remaining.

With all the excitement that both offenses brought to the middle innings, stellar defense championed the last inning and a half, as both teams held each other scoreless, giving Colorado State the victory, 8-5.

KEY STAT
Batting with two outs – Northern Colorado was just 1-10 Tuesday in two-out situations. Colorado State, comparatively, was 4-10.

MOST VALUABLE BEAR
Jordyn Wiatrak – Wiatrak went 1-3 (.333) with a home run, two RBI and a walk.

IN THEIR WORDS
Shana Easley, Head Coach
"I like the fight that we had, coming back in the fourth and the fifth innings. The competitiveness to keep us in the game was great to see. We just have to find a way to generate that momentum earlier. In the last two games, we've been able to fight back, but it's been in the last half of the game."

"We've been focusing a lot on pitch selection. We want to put our best swings on the best pitches, and we've done a pretty good job of that, we just need to do it early in games."
Jordyn Wiatrak, Third Baseman

"I think we had a tough battle today. I think that we can learn a lot from this game. They were able to capitalize on a few of our minor mistakes, and we can learn from that."

"When we go out to California, we can focus on really putting it on those teams out there and then we can come back home and beat CSU the next two times."

"I wasn't really thinking about anything on the home run. I was just focused on finding a good pitch to hit. Thankfully, she gave me exactly what I needed and I was able to take advantage of her misplacement."

NOTABLES
-Sophia Taylor had her best performance of the year at the plate, going 2-3 with an RBI and a run.
-The Bears turned their second double play of the season, in 1-2-3 fashion.
-Jayme Reddacliff continues her control on the mound, refusing to surrender a walk in her 2.2 innings.
-Three different Bears compiled three assists Tuesday, Jayme Reddacliff, Sophia Taylor and Jordyn Wiatrak.

UP NEXT
Northern Colorado will head off to sunny California for a tournament hosted by UC Santa Barbara. They'll return home on March 24, for the start of Big Sky Conference play against Southern Utah.