University of Northern Colorado Athletics
Friday, March 30
Greeley, CO
12
University of Northern Colorado
21-16, 0
12
vs
4
Southern Utah
4-24, 0
1
2
3
4
5
6
R
H
E
Southern Utah
1
0
0
3
0
0
4
7
0
Northern Colorado
2
1
2
0
4
3
12
12
1
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Vidal, Valerie (14-5)
L: WALL, Haley (2-6)
Batting:
2B: WEAVER, Javlyn 2
3B: WILLIAMS, Taylei 1
HR: KAPITZKE, Kendall 1 ; WATKINS, Kalei 1
RBI: WILLIAMS, Taylei 1 ; KAPITZKE, Kendall 2 ; WATKINS, Kalei 1
Base Running:
RUNS: MURPHY, Sarah 1 ; WILLIAMS, Taylei 1 ; KAPITZKE, Kendall 1 ; WATKINS, Kalei 1
HBP: WILLAMS, Kaitlin 1
Batting:
2B: Wiatrak, Jordyn 1 ; Garcia, Kaley 1 ; Young, Mady 2
HR: Taylor, Sophia 1 ; Young, Mady 1
RBI: Taylor, Sophia 2 ; Schmidt, Madi 1 ; Wiatrak, Jordyn 2 ; Garcia, Kaley 1 ; Young, Mady 4 ; Johnson, Rachel 1
SF: Schmidt, Madi 1 ; Johnson, Rachel 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Taylor, Sophia 1 ; Schmidt, Madi 1 ; Brockmann, Emma 1 ; Joyner, Natalie 1 ; Wiatrak, Jordyn 1 ; Steiner, Ally 1 ; Garcia, Kaley 3 ; Young, Mady 2 ; Talmadge, Cheyenne 1
SB: Schmidt, Madi 1 ; Garcia, Kaley 1 ; Talmadge, Cheyenne 2 ; Kudrna, Kenzie 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
3
H
4
RBI
1
AB
4
R
1
H
3
RBI
2
AB
4
R
2
H
3
RBI
4
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
C
/ Softball
P
/ SoftballOF
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
INF/P
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
UTL
/ SoftballINF
/ Softball
P
/ SoftballC/INF
/ SoftballINF
/ Softball
Photo by: Dean Popejoy
Recap: @bearssoftball Takes the First Game Against Southern Utah, Drops the Second
3/30/2018 10:44:00 PM | Softball
Northern Colorado ended game one of a doubleheader in six innings, but could not carry momentum into the second game
GREELEY, Colo.- Northern Colorado softball split the doubleheader against Southern Utah on Friday afternoon. The Bears defeated the Thunderbirds 12-4 in 6 innings for game one, but would fall 9-4 in the second game.
Game 1
UNC threw Valerie Vidal in in the first game and she went against Southern Utah's Haley Wall. The Thunderbirds scored a run in the top of the first on an RBI single to take a 1-0 lead. The Bears responded in the bottom of the inning when Jordyn Wiatrak singled to left field to score Emma Brockmann and Madi Schmidt. UNC jumped ahead 2-1 in the game.
In the bottom of the second inning, the Bears kept the pressure up, scoring another run on a Schmidt sacrifice fly that scored Cheyenne Talmadge. UNC earned some breathing room with a 3-1 lead.
The lineup kept swinging for UNC in the bottom of the third, as Kaley Garcia doubled to left field and scored Ally Steiner. Rachel Johnson would hit another sacrifice fly for the Bears to score Garcia, making it a 5-1 lead.
Southern Utah got back in the game during the top of the fourth inning, when Kendall Kapitzke hit a two-run homer to left field. The Thunderbirds would tack on another run with a solo home run from Kalei Watkins that closed the gap to 5-4.
The Bears would break the game open in the bottom of the fifth by way of a Mady Young, three-run homer to center field. Sophia Taylor would make it two home runs for UNC in the inning with a solo shot to left field and the lead ballooned to 9-4.
Now in the bottom of the sixth, Young caused damaged again with a double to center field that scored Natalie Joyner and Garcia. Taylor would come up to the plate later in the inning and hit a single to left field that scored Young to end the game.
The Bears had built an eight-run lead after five innings and won the game 12-4.
Besides the fourth inning, Vidal pitched a solid game, going six innings with four earned runs on seven hits, four strikeouts, and one walk.
Game 2
For the second game, Lauren Paige started in the circle for the Bears, facing off against Kalei Watkins. Paige was hitting her spots in the first two innings, allowing only one hit and striking out three. Watkins was also pitching well, allowing a pair of hits to the UNC hitters.
The Thunderbirds lineup exploded in the top of the third inning, putting up six runs on six hits. The big inning was aided by two UNC errors. Southern Utah did most of its damage with two outs, scoring five runs on four hits. Paige was replaced during the inning with one out and Chandler Elsner came into try and control Southern Utah's lineup.
In the top of the fourth, the Thunderbirds would push another run across with a sacrifice fly to put UNC in a 7-0 hole
The Bears got on the board in a big way during the bottom of the fourth when Lauren Paige drilled a home run to left field that scored Jordyn Wiatrak. UNC had trimmed the lead to 7-2 after four innings.
Southern Utah would get the runs back in the top of the fifth, when Javlyn Weaver hit her own two-run, homer to stretch the lead to 9-2.
UNC built a rally in the bottom of the sixth, with the help of two Thunderbird errors that allowed two runs to score on one hit.
The Bears missed a chance to further cut into the lead, leaving the bases loaded in the inning.
The Thunderbirds closed out UNC in the bottom of the seventh to secure the 9-4 win and split the doubleheader.
In their words
Shana Easley, Head Coach
On Game 1
"We had a lot of good hitting in the first game. Mady [Young] came up with a big three run homer. Sophia [Taylor] had a homer for us and a walk-off hit four us. Kaley [Garcia] went four-for-four so a lot of good production from them. We didn't let up, but had a good mindset going into it and ready to expect hits."
On Game 2
"I think we could've done a few things better in the first half of game and be more disciplined. [Watkins} was getting our timing off and so we could've adjust better and quicker there. On defense, we could have hit corners better for our pitchers. Our at-bats in the second half were better, but we ran out of time and not able to make up for the mistakes of the first half."
On the aggressive base running
"We knew coming into this weekend that we wanted to be aggressive and make their defense make plays. We're going to continue doing that and its part of our game plan in general, but more so today."
Notes
Up Next
Northern Colorado will conclude its series against Southern Utah with the rubber match tomorrow at Gloria Rodriguez Field at 1 P.M. (MT). Kids who attend tomorrow can enjoy an Easter egg hunt following the end of game.
Â
Game 1
UNC threw Valerie Vidal in in the first game and she went against Southern Utah's Haley Wall. The Thunderbirds scored a run in the top of the first on an RBI single to take a 1-0 lead. The Bears responded in the bottom of the inning when Jordyn Wiatrak singled to left field to score Emma Brockmann and Madi Schmidt. UNC jumped ahead 2-1 in the game.
In the bottom of the second inning, the Bears kept the pressure up, scoring another run on a Schmidt sacrifice fly that scored Cheyenne Talmadge. UNC earned some breathing room with a 3-1 lead.
The lineup kept swinging for UNC in the bottom of the third, as Kaley Garcia doubled to left field and scored Ally Steiner. Rachel Johnson would hit another sacrifice fly for the Bears to score Garcia, making it a 5-1 lead.
Southern Utah got back in the game during the top of the fourth inning, when Kendall Kapitzke hit a two-run homer to left field. The Thunderbirds would tack on another run with a solo home run from Kalei Watkins that closed the gap to 5-4.
The Bears would break the game open in the bottom of the fifth by way of a Mady Young, three-run homer to center field. Sophia Taylor would make it two home runs for UNC in the inning with a solo shot to left field and the lead ballooned to 9-4.
Now in the bottom of the sixth, Young caused damaged again with a double to center field that scored Natalie Joyner and Garcia. Taylor would come up to the plate later in the inning and hit a single to left field that scored Young to end the game.
The Bears had built an eight-run lead after five innings and won the game 12-4.
Besides the fourth inning, Vidal pitched a solid game, going six innings with four earned runs on seven hits, four strikeouts, and one walk.
Game 2
For the second game, Lauren Paige started in the circle for the Bears, facing off against Kalei Watkins. Paige was hitting her spots in the first two innings, allowing only one hit and striking out three. Watkins was also pitching well, allowing a pair of hits to the UNC hitters.
The Thunderbirds lineup exploded in the top of the third inning, putting up six runs on six hits. The big inning was aided by two UNC errors. Southern Utah did most of its damage with two outs, scoring five runs on four hits. Paige was replaced during the inning with one out and Chandler Elsner came into try and control Southern Utah's lineup.
In the top of the fourth, the Thunderbirds would push another run across with a sacrifice fly to put UNC in a 7-0 hole
The Bears got on the board in a big way during the bottom of the fourth when Lauren Paige drilled a home run to left field that scored Jordyn Wiatrak. UNC had trimmed the lead to 7-2 after four innings.
Southern Utah would get the runs back in the top of the fifth, when Javlyn Weaver hit her own two-run, homer to stretch the lead to 9-2.
UNC built a rally in the bottom of the sixth, with the help of two Thunderbird errors that allowed two runs to score on one hit.
The Bears missed a chance to further cut into the lead, leaving the bases loaded in the inning.
The Thunderbirds closed out UNC in the bottom of the seventh to secure the 9-4 win and split the doubleheader.
In their words
Shana Easley, Head Coach
On Game 1
"We had a lot of good hitting in the first game. Mady [Young] came up with a big three run homer. Sophia [Taylor] had a homer for us and a walk-off hit four us. Kaley [Garcia] went four-for-four so a lot of good production from them. We didn't let up, but had a good mindset going into it and ready to expect hits."
On Game 2
"I think we could've done a few things better in the first half of game and be more disciplined. [Watkins} was getting our timing off and so we could've adjust better and quicker there. On defense, we could have hit corners better for our pitchers. Our at-bats in the second half were better, but we ran out of time and not able to make up for the mistakes of the first half."
On the aggressive base running
"We knew coming into this weekend that we wanted to be aggressive and make their defense make plays. We're going to continue doing that and its part of our game plan in general, but more so today."
Notes
- Jordyn Wiatrak extended her hit streak to 12 games with three hits in game one and one in game two today.
- Northern Colorado struggled stopping rallies, allowing 10 of Southern Utah's 15 runs on day in two innings.
- In game one, four bears had multi-hit games including Wiatrak (3), Sophia Taylor (2), Kaley Garcia (4), and Mady Young (3).
Up Next
Northern Colorado will conclude its series against Southern Utah with the rubber match tomorrow at Gloria Rodriguez Field at 1 P.M. (MT). Kids who attend tomorrow can enjoy an Easter egg hunt following the end of game.
Â
University of Northern Colorado's 15th Annual Women's Walk
Tuesday, December 23
UNC Softball Highlights vs Portland State Game 1
Tuesday, December 23
UNC Softball Highlights vs Portland State Game 2
Tuesday, December 23
UNC Bears Softball 2023 Big Sky Tournament Champions
Tuesday, December 23
