@BearsSoftball Finishes Home Stand with Win over Roadrunners

Tuesday, April 9

Greeley, Colo.

5 pm

University of Northern Colorado

10-28

Metro State

19-22

Metro State

Northern Colorado

Photo by: Dean Popejoy

4/9/2019 8:16:00 PM | Softball

Box Score

Northern Colorado swept all four games at Gloria Rodriguez Field

By: Matthew Kushar, UNCBears.com

Four games at home and four wins for Northern Colorado softball, as they defeated Metro State, 7-5 on Tuesday night. UNC swept its home stand to move into position to qualify for the Big Sky Tournament in May.

"The good part is the bats are coming and that was one of the big components that was missing for us," head coach Ben Garcia said. "I'm really pleased with the hitting and defensively were doing a good job. We do have to cut down on some mental errors that cost us a few runs. We have gone back to the basics of hitting. We are seeing the ball and doing a lot of things we weren't doing earlier in the season. We were pressing early. Now we are feeling more comfortable and made some adjustments in the lineup. Alyssa [Huerta] had a great game, giving us opportunities to score runs. The top of the order is getting on base so it's giving us opportunities to score runs early."

The Bears had Valerie Vidal in the circle for the one-game matchup, with Metro State pitching Kylee Burnside.

After a scoreless first inning, the Roadrunners scored two runs in the top of the second, by way of a two-run, home run from Jasmine Wessel.

UNC's response began quickly with a lead-off single from Emma Brockmann in the bottom of the second. Vidal helped her own cause in the game singling to center field to score Brockmann. Alyssa Huerta lined a double down the left field line that brought Vidal into score. Cheyenne Talmadge would keep the hit parade going with an infield single, brining Huerta home. The Bears jumped in front of the Roadrunners, 3-2.

"It was important being down in the count and just hitting the ball on the ground," Talmadge said. "I was trying to hit the ball as hard as I can and bring my runners home. It's important to win on our home field and gives us a lot of confidence."

The hitting carried over to the bottom of the third, as UNC pushed another three runs across the plate. Hailee Swanson walked, followed by Brockmann's second single of the game. Katie Simonsgaard would hit a slow single to center field to load the bases for the Bears. Swanson was thrown out at home on fielder's choice the next at bat. Huerta came through for the Bears again with a clutch, two-out single, bringing pinch runner, Taylor Renaud, and Simonsgaard into score.

"We are picking our pitch to hit, instead of the pitcher's pitch," Huerta said. "By that, we are seeing the ball well, hitting it hard and seeing it all the way through contact."

Within two innings, UNC had built a 6-2 advantage over Metro St.

In the fifth inning, the Bears and Roadrunners exchanged runs to bring the score to 7-3. UNC scored its run on a Talmadge RBI single to score Simonsgaard.

Metro State would get its second two-run, home run of the game in the top of the sixth from Abby Anderson. Vidal was lifted in the inning and Maggie Thurston came on in relief, with UNC leading 7-5.

The Bears did not make any noise in the bottom of the sixth and the game moved to the seventh.

Vidal would re-enter the game after the Roadrunners hit a lead-off single against Thurston. With no outs, Vidal managed to get Metro St. to hit into a double play and would close out the game with a fly out.

UNC won the game 7-5, with Vidal picking up her seventh win of the season after pitching 6.1 innings and allowing five runs, four earned.

"We are excited about where we're at," Garcia added. "It's the right time to be peaking. We are headed in the right direction and getting better every game. We are excited to go down to Southern Utah and get better every game so we can finish on a positive note."

Game Notes

With her win today, Valerie Vidal moves into a tie for most career wins in program history with 31.
None of UNC's batters struck out against Metro State. It was the second game this season the batters have not recorded a strikeout, with the only other coming against Utah State(2/24).
Four Bears recorded multi-hit games, including Alyssa Huerta, Cheyenne Talmadge, Katie Simonsgaard and Emma Brockmann. UNC recorded a season-best 11 hits against the Roadrunners.
Huerta recorded her first career double in the game.