Recap: @bearssoftball has Similar Results Against Familiar Teams

Saturday, March 10

Davis, CA

9 am

University of Northern Colorado

12-11

Utah State

9-10

Northern Colorado

Utah State

Photo by: Ed Navarro

3/10/2018 8:20:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

Northern Colorado defeated Utah State for the second time in two days, before losing Nevada for the second time this season

By: Matthew Kushar, UNCBears.com

DAVIS, Calif.- Northern Colorado softball split games on Saturday, with a 3-2 victory over Utah State and would then drop a 2-1 game against Nevada.

UNC (12-12) had strong pitching in both games, while the offense did not produce enough in the second game to give the Bears the sweep for the day.

Northern Colorado-Utah State
After defeating Utah State 3-2 yesterday, Chandler Elsner got the nod in circle to start UNC off and she faced Jordyn McCracken. The Bears and Aggies managed only three hits through those innings as Elsner and McCracken were both controlling their pitches movement.

The offense for both teams got going in the fourth inning, with UNC breaking through first in the top half. After Jordyn Wiatrak singled, Lauren Paige hammered a two-run homer to left field and the Bears had a 2-0 lead.

Utah State got on scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth with a sacrifice fly from Baile Trapp flied out to left field and scored Briana Buttacavoli. UNC still had a 2-1 lead after four innings.

Sophia Taylor knocked a lead-off single to start the fifth and Kenzie Kudrna would walk to put two on with nobody out. McCracken pinned her ears back and managed to retire the Bears in order after the first two had reached base.

Elsner would leave the game and was replaced in the circle by Paige and she retired the Aggies in the fifth after allowing a lead-off single.

In the top of the seventh, Rachel Johnson reached on an error and Ally Steiner was substituted in for her as a pinch runner. Madi Schmidt would deliver a two-out double to score Steiner for a 3-1 UNC lead.

The run proved necessary for the Bears, as Utah State would score a run in the bottom of seventh on a UNC error. Paige was able to close out the Aggies and UNC swept the weekend series against Utah State with a 3-2 win.

Elsner and Paige both pitched well against Utah State, allowing only four hits and no walks in the victory. Paige would end up helping her own cause with the big hit on the day for the Bears.

Northern Colorado-Nevada
UNC looked to have a different result against the Wolfpack after losing to them two weeks ago in the Libby Matson Tournament. Valerie Vidal was in the circle for the Bears and Nevada threw Amanda Geil opposite of her.

Nevada was threatening in the top of the first with runners on second and third with two outs. Vidal was able to get out the jam with ground out to second base and score remained tied.

UNC would get into a similar situation in the bottom of the second, with Cheyenne Talmadge and Jordyn Wiatrak at second and third respectively. A walk from Sophia Taylor would load the bases, but the Bears were not able to come up with the timely hit and three runners were stranded.

After the rocky first inning, Vidal settled into a groove and limited the Wolfpack to a pair of hits over the next three innings.

Lauren Paige was in a groove from the first game and she lead off the bottom of the fourth inning with a solo home run to center field. The Bears had a 1-0 lead over the Aggies on Paige's second home run of the day.

The lead did not last long, as Nevada tied the game up in the top of the fifth on a RBI double from Sadaria McAlister. UNC and Nevada were tied at one after five innings of play.

Julia Jensen entered the game in the top of the fifth and held UNC's lineup in check for the rest of the game.

In the top of the seventh inning, Kwynn Warner came up with a clutch RBI double to give Nevada the 2-1 lead late in the game. Jensen retired the Bears in order to end the game and give Nevada the 2-1 lead.

Northern Colorado could not deliver the timely hit to defeat Nevada, despite another complete game from Vidal.

In their words
Shana Easley, Head Coach

Game 1
"I was really pleased with how well Chandler and LP competed for us in the circle. I especially liked that we had no walks and made them earn their way on base. The power was back in our offense this game, which was a big improvement as well."

Game 2
"We are still working on trying to be consistent on offense and maintaining aggressive at bats. We were just a few feet away on a couple of our hits from winning that game."

Notes

The pitching staff for UNC performed well on the day, with Chandler Elsner, Lauren Paige, and Valerie Vidal allowing a combined three earned runs in 14 innings of work. The trio struck out five and walked two.
Elsner picked up her first win of the year (1-1), while Vidal's record dropped to 8-5 on the season. Vidal has a 1.98 ERA overall and Elsner carries a 5.07 ERA.
Paige went 3-for-4, two home runs, two RBIs, two runs scored, and two walks. Paige leads UNC with a .333 batting average and three home runs overall this year.
Northern Colorado is 4-for-30 in RBI opportunities through the first three games in the Aggie Invitational.

Next Up
Northern Colorado will play a Sunday afternoon game against Valparaiso at 1:30 P.M. (MT). Live stats are provided by UCDavisAggies.com. Follow the game live on Twitter with @bearssoftball.