Recap: @bearssoftball Wins in Extras at Night, Drops Afternoon Game

Saturday, February 24

Stockton, CA

1:15 pm

University of Northern Colorado

Nevada

Northern Colorado

Nevada

2/24/2018 10:39:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

Northern Colorado defeated Pacific in 9 innings and lost to Nevada in the first game

By: Matthew Kushar, UNCBears.com

STOCKTON, Calif.- Northern Colorado softball split games on Saturday with an 9-8 extra inning victory over Pacific and a 6-2 loss to Nevada earlier in the day.

UNC struggled to control the Wolfpack's offense, but managed to outscore the Tigers in nine innings.

Northern Colorado-Nevada
UNC looked to ride the momentum from the previous game against Nevada, starting Lauren Paige in the circle after her complete game last night. Kali Sargent got the nod in the circle for the Wolfpack. The game was scoreless after the first two innings, although the Bears had managed a pair of hits.

The tie was broken in the top of the third when UNC was able to load the bases with two outs. Emma Brockmann was able to draw a walk and scored Paige for a 1-0 UNC lead. The Bears could not get any more runs after a fielder's choice ended the inning.

Nevada would draw even with UNC the next half inning on an RBI single from Liz Cartwright that scored Sierra Mello from second base.

Erika Hansen would give Nevada the lead in the bottom of the fourth with a lead-off home run. The Wolfpack would strike again in the inning after Haley Burda doubled to center and scored Jessica Sellers to give them a 3-1 lead over UNC. Kelli Kleis would come in to relieve Paige and end the inning without any more damage.

Paige would be hit by a pitch to lead off the fifth inning and was sub out for Cheyenne Talmadge. The change paid off quickly when Talmadge stole second. Madi Schmidt would smoke a triple into right center and score Talmadge to cut the Wolfpack lead to 3-2.

Nevada would separate from UNC in the bottom of the sixth, getting a walk and single off of Chandler Elsner, who entered in the fifth to replace Kleis. Elsner would continue to struggle with her control, surrendering another two walks in the inning to allow one run to score. Paige would be subbed back into pitch for Elsner, but Sellers would double to score two more runs for the Wolfpack.
Nevada closed out UNC in the bottom of the seventh and defeated the Bears 6-2. The Wolfpack had a 10 to six advantage in hits and used six walks to help produce runs against UNC.

Northern Colorado-Pacific
Valerie Vidal started game two the day for UNC and went against Kenya Lindstrom in the second matchup of the weekend between the Bears and Tigers. Neither team had much offense going in the first three innings. UNC had runner on first and second in the second inning, but could not advance them any further.

The hitting picked up in the fourth, with the Bears striking first in the top of the inning. UNC loaded the bases with one out and Rachel Johnson coming up to bat. Johnson knocked a double to center field to score Lauren Paige and Jordyn Wiatrak. Mady Young would keep the rally going, with a single to center field that scored Johnson and Emma Brockmann for a 4-0 UNC lead.

Pacific would load the bases in its half of the inning and a single from Caitlyn Sung would score two and the lead for UNC was 4-2.
In the top of the fifth, UNC would get on the board again, after Wiatrak singled to right and scored Kaley Garcia. UNC now had a 5-2 lead.

The Tigers responded quickly in the bottom of the fifth, when Samantha Owen launched a two-run home run to pull within one of the Bears.

The game moved to the seventh inning with UNC holding onto a one-run lead. Pacific tied up the game after a UNC error allowed Owen to score on a single from Sellers. Vidal was relieved by Paige to close out the seventh. The game was tied at five and the teams headed to extra innings.

The Bears loaded the bases in the top of the eighth with a pair of walks. Kelli Kleis stepped up to the plate and doubled to right center, scoring three runs for an 8-5 advantage. In the bottom of the eighth, Pacific would load the bases with one out. Owen would single to right and score two runs to bring the score to 8-7. A Tigers ground out to short would allow the teams eighth run to score and the game went to the ninth, tied at eight.

Young was placed at second to start the ninth and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Garcia would give UNC the 9-8 lead with an RBI single to score Young. Paige closed out the game in the bottom of the ninth to secure the win for UNC.

The key hits from Kleis and Garcia were the deciding factor in the win against Pacific.

In their words
Shana Easley, Head Coach
"It was good for our team to have to work through several challenging situations throughout the day. We scrapped and found a way to win in game two which is a good step forward for us. Kelli, Kaley, and Lauren all were able to step up for us in key pressure situations and demonstrate their mental toughness."

Game Notes

Madi Schmidt went 3-for-7 with one run and one RBI on the day and improved her batting average to .304.
Emma Brockmann walked five times on the day and has nine total on the season, with a .417 on-base-percentage.
Northern Colorado improved its hitting with the bases loaded and is now 5-for-24 hitting this season.

Next Up
Northern Colorado will wrap up its play in the Libby Matson Tournament with a game against Seattle on Sunday morning at 11 A.M. (MT).