Hornets Top @BearsSoftball in Doubleheader on Friday

Friday, April 19

Greeley, CO

1 pm

University of Northern Colorado

Sacramento State

Photo by: Dean Popejoy

4/19/2019 9:25:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

Northern Colorado struggled to contain Sacramento St. batters

By: Matthew Kushar, UNCBears.com

The bats were swinging on Friday afternoon, but Northern Colorado softball dropped the double header against Sacramento State. UNC fell just short in a back-and-fourth game start the day, with the Hornets winning 6-5. Sac. St. outlasted the Bears 12-9 in the second game.

"I thought our offense did a great job to continue to come back and keep fighting," head coach Ben Garcia said. "13 hits will win a lot of ball games. We have to do a better job pitching. It struggled and they have to figure out a better day and shut the team down. Walks really seemed to hurt us. We left a lot of runners left in scoring position, but so did they. Location is crucial for our pitchers. If we can get movement to our location that is key. It's easy to lose, but hard to win."

Game One
Friday started with Valerie Vidal in the circle for UNC and Savanna Corr for Sacramento State.

The Hornets raced out of the gate quickly with two runs in the first inning on four hits.

Despite the early deficit, UNC cut the lead in half in the bottom of the second with a solo home run from Dani Young, her third of the season.

"I feel like I saw the ball better than I have and I kept my head on it to make contact," Young said. "It really helps to see more pitches and sees more spins. I kind of got a clue of what she is going to throw and on what counts. It helps you develop for future at-bats as well."

Vidal settled in with three solid innings of work to keep the game in reach for the Bears.

In the bottom of the fourth, Mady Young singled to lead-off the inning. Dani Young would come through again with a double down the left field line to allow Mady to score. Dani would score on a wild pitch two batters later. UNC held a 3-2 lead over Sac. St.

The Hornets retook the lead the next half inning, with a two-run, home run from Suzy Brookshire. The Bears were now down 4-3.

UNC delivered the counter-punch in the bottom of the fifth, starting with a lead-off walk from Alyssa Huerta. After an infield single from Cheyenne Talmadge, Emma Brockmann delivered another clutch hit with a double to score both Huerta and Talmadge. The Bears were back in front, 5-4.

Sac. St. picked up an RBI double in the top of the sixth to tie the game up at five.

The batters were retired in the order in the bottom of the sixth for UNC.

Now in the top of the seventh, the Hornets Krystal Aubert hit the go-ahead, solo home run.

Trailing 6-5, Talmadge lead-off the inning with a single, but the Bears could not get any more offense and were closed out in the inning. Sac. St. won the game 6-5, with Vidal pitching a complete game and suffering the loss.

Game Two
Maggie Thurston got the call to start in the second game of the doubleheader and was opposed by Sacramento State's Danielle Sperry.

It was the Hornets again starting fast, scoring three runs on five hits in the first inning.

UNC responded with one run in the bottom half of the first, after Kenzie Kudrna scored on a Mady Young ground out.

Sac. St. got the run back in the top of the second on a fielder's choice for a 4-1 lead.

Unfazed, the Bears struck for three runs on five hits in the bottom of the second to tie the game. Natalie Joyner and Hailee Swanson recorded back-to-back singles to start the inning. Cheyenne Talmadge launched a triple to left field to score Joyner and Swanson. Mady Young would get an infield single let Talmadge cross home. UNC and Sac. St. were now tied at four.

In the top of the fourth inning, the Hornets broke the tie with four runs on five hits. Sac. St. scored another four runs in the top of the sixth to build a 12-4 advantage.

Now trailing by eight in the bottom of the sixth, the Bears needed to score to keep the game going. Taylor Libby came up big as a pinch hitter, knocking a double into left field that scored Talmadge. Mady Young followed with a double up the middle to score Libby. Dani Young continued her stand-out day, singling through to left side to bring Mady into score. UNC had trimmed the lead down to 12-7.

Valerie Vidal came on in relief in the top of the seventh to shut out the Hornets and give the Bears a final chance.

Taylor Renaud walked with one out to give UNC a base runner. Kudrna would hit an infield single with two outs to put two on. Mady Young reached on an error to load the bases and Emma Brockmann drew a walk to score one run. In the next at-bat, Dani Young walked to score another run for UNC. The Bears were retired on the next batter and Sac. St. held on for the 12-9 win.

Thurston was tagged with the loss after allowing six earned runs in 3.1 innings pitched.

Game Notes

Dani Young batted four-for-five on Friday, with four RBIs and two runs scored. Young also drew two walks and was hit by a pitch.
Cheyenne Talmadge lead the team with five hits, scoring three runs and accounting for two RBIs.
Mady Young went three-four-nine with three RBIs and two runs, with one double.
Emma Brockmann batted two-for-seven with three RBIs and one double, along with one walk.
UNC drew seven walks, while striking out only seven times.

Senior Day
Northern Colorado will play the series finale against Sacramento State tomorrow at 12 pm. Before the game, Madi Schmidt, Jordyn Wiatrak, Valerie Vidal, Cheyenne Talmadge and Kenzie Kudrna will be honored with senior recognition.