Jaycie Gandert leads Bears on opening day

Friday, February 10

La Jolla, Calif.

2:30 pm

University of Northern Colorado

0-1

Utah

NORTHERN COLORADO

Photo by: Jam David

2/10/2023 11:51:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

LA JOLLA, Calif. -- The Northern Colorado softball team began the 2023 season in Southern California. Despite a double and a homerun, and three RBI from Jaycie Gandert, the Bears dropped a 9-2 decision to Utah and a close 4-3 loss to hosts UC San Diego on Friday.

In the first game of the day against Utah, the Utes jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the fourth inning before the Bears got on the board from a single by Amailee Morales that drove home Gandert for the first run of the 2023 campaign. In the bottom of the fifth, Gandert doubled to score Lainey Hanehan for the Bears second and final run.

After getting the rust off in the first game, the Bears took an early 1-0 lead in the nightcap against the Tritons. Carson Fischer singled to drive home Paola Villegas in the bottom of the first inning. UC San Diego then scored solo runs in the bottom of the first, third and fifth innings to take a 3-1 lead. In the top of the seventh with Lauren Strathearn on second, Gandert hit her first career homerun to tie the game at 3-3. However, UC San Diego scored a walk-off run in the bottom of the seventh off a single to escape with the 4-3 win.

ACCORDING TO COACH PENDLETON-HELM
"It was exciting to get on the field today for our first two games of the year. Although the outcomes were not in our favor, our team never stopped battling in either game. We had some early nerves show up in the Utah game, but continued to grow and get stronger each inning. Our hitters really battled through the entire game and both pitchers, Erin and Grace, threw solid innings vs Utah. We came out strong scoring first against UCSD and then after getting down 3-1, Jaycie Gandert's homerun really gave us a chance. Isabelle really pitched a solid game. I felt like we settled in better during the second game and overall, we met many of the goals we had set out to accomplish during the game. We had great energy and fight today, those were big wins from today's games."

BY THE NUMBERS

Alexis Barashkoff led the Bears hitting .400 on the day, going 2-for-5 at the bat.
In addition to her double and homerun, Gandert recorded three RBI and six total bases.
Carson Fischer was the third Bear to hit above .300 on the day, going 2-for-6 at the bat.
Erin Caviness pitched the first game, giving up only four earned runs in five innings.
Grace Algrim pitched the final two innings against Utah, conceding only two hits while earning her first career strikeout.
Isabelle DiNapoli pitched the complete game against UC San Diego, giving up three earned runs while striking out seven.

UP NEXT
The Bears return to the diamond in SoCal tomorrow afternoon for a rematch against Utah at noon, before finishing the day with a game against Stonehill College at 2:30 p.m.