@BearsSoftball Earns First Big Sky Series Win

Saturday, April 8

Greeley, CO

1:00 pm

University of Northern Colorado

16-24, 0

Weber State University

21-13-1, 0

Weber State

Northern Colorado

Photo by: Ed Navarro

4/8/2017 4:03:00 PM | Softball

Box Score

By: Thomas Hoffman, uncbears.com

BOX SCORE (PDF)

Greeley, Colo – Backed behind a record setting performance from Jayme Reddacliff, Northern Colorado softball earned a weekend series win against the Weber State Wildcats after their 6-2 victory Saturday.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Starting pitcher Jayme Reddacliff picked up right where she left off on Friday. The first inning was a breeze for the Queensland Australian native, setting down Weber State in order.

In a very similar fashion to Friday's win over the Wildcats, the Bears looked to jump on the away team early and often. After Emily Holtz patiently walked her way to first and Jordyn Wiatrak reached on a fielding error from the WSU third baseman, Lauren Paige had a chance to break open the Saturday scoring. On the first pitch she saw, Paige went opposite field to right, smashing a home run and vaulting the Bears on top, 3-0.

In the third inning, it was again Emily Holtz supplying the jolt for head coach, Shana Easley. Holtz's single brought in UNC's fourth run of the ballgame.

Not until the third inning did WSU earn its first hit of the game. Even then, a trio of spectacular defensive plays kept Weber at bay and the Bears in the lead.

The fourth inning spelled a minor amount of trouble for the Northern Colorado faithful. A single and a two-run homer to lead-off the inning pulled the Wlldcats within two. A quick trip to the mound from assistant coach, Travis Owen refocused Reddacliff and the senior sharply ended the inning.

While the UNC offense went quite in the fourth and fifth inning, the defense was up to snuff. Despite a lead-off double in the fifth inning, UNC capitalized on a base running error from Weber to leave a runner stranded. The inning's second out was your blasé 2-6-2-6 out at home.

An inning later, Reddacliff supplied fans with a neat three up, three down affair to send her offense back to the plate. Rachel Johnson wouldn't let that opportunity slide by without a say. On the sixth pitch of her at-bat, Johnson rocketed a ball well over the centerfield fence.

The sixth inning scoring wouldn't stop there.

Northern Colorado combined for two more hits, moved a couple of runners and was able to push another run across home plate before the final inning.

The game's result was all but decided in the final frame, with a four run lead for Reddacliff. A pitcher who relies heavily on defense gave her infield a deserved rest, striking out the first two batters of the inning and forced the final batter to ground out to Sophia Taylor at second.

Not only had the Bears won, 6-2, for their 16^th win of the season. Jayme Reddacliff also set a new program record for career wins with 29.

KEY STAT
Assists – Relying mostly on her defense, Jayme Reddacliff held Weber State to just two runs, utilizing 14 assists from the UNC defense.

MOST VALUABLE BEAR
Jayme Reddacliff – With her 29^th victory of her career and ninth in 2017, Jayme Reddacliff set a new program record for career wins. The senior also notched her 11^th complete game of the season.

IN THEIR WORDS
Shana Easley, Head Coach
"It was awesome to see our team come out and compete a lot closer to their potential. I believe that when we're playing close to like we didtoday, we can beat almost anybody. Weber State is an aggressive base running team, and we knew that if we were able to limit that part of their game, we'd have a good chance to win."

"Jayme has been pitching really well lately. She's done an awesome job of keeping hitters off balance, but also not allowing any freebies."

Jayme Reddacliff, Starting Pitcher
"Today, I was able to use my drop to its full potential. Addie (Coldiron) and I were on the same plane all afternoon long, getting ground balls and using my defense. When they're confident in making plays behind me, I'm confident in what I do."

"The record means a lot of hard work. A lot of things have happened over the years. This means that my team has always been there to build me up, even when I haven't been pitching my best."

NOTABLES
-Jayme Reddacliff set a new program record with 29 career wins.
-Erica Dick reached 200 career hits, only the second player to do so and two from a new program record.
-UNC won their first series against a Big Sky opponent Friday.
-For the second time this weekend, the Bears did not commit an error against the Wildcats.

UP NEXT
Northern Colorado will get a pit stop on Fort Collins to take on the Rams Tuesday, before taking on Montana. They'll also finish up the game that was postponed due to snow back on February 28.