UNC Completes Sweep of Kansas City

Saturday, March 11

Greeley, Colo.

10 am

University of Northern Colorado

11-10

Kansas City

5-16

Kansas City

Northern Colorado

Photo by: Dean Popejoy

3/11/2023 7:15:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Game 1 Highlights Game 2 Highlights

GREELEY, Colo. – The Northern Colorado softball team earned a second shutout and battled back for a come-from-behind win in a doubleheader against Kansas City on Saturday at Gloria Rodriguez Field. With the weekend sweep of the Roos, the Bears improve to 12-10 on the season.

After shutting out the Roos on Friday, the Bears continued their domination in the first game of the day, limiting KC to just two hits in an 8-0, five-inning game. UNC used one hit and one error to score a solo run in the first inning, before eventually exploding for a 7-run inning in the bottom of the third.

UNC used three singles and a fielder's choice to load the bases with one out. Paola Villegas hit an RBI single to score Lauren Strathearn. Amailee Morales followed up with a base on balls to score Alyssa Wenzel. Carson Fischer stepped up and hit a double down the right-field line to score Villegas and Emma Osbourne, who was pinch running for Morales. With two outs and two on base, Sabrina Javorsky crushed the ball over the right-field fence to put the Bears up, 8-0.

Isabelle DiNapoli kept the Roos from scoring to earn her fourth win of the season. The sophomore struck out six batters in the contest.

After two-straight shutouts, Kansas City's batters finally heated up and jumped out to an 8-2 lead in the second inning of the nightcap, and would eventually hold a 9-3 lead after four and a half. Undeterred by the deficit, the Bears continued to battle and scored three runs in the fifth and five runs in the sixth to take an 11-10 victory.

After hitting the big homerun in the first game, Javorsky recorded an RBI single in the bottom of the sixth to put the Bears ahead.

Erin Cavines earned the win, pitching in relief, throwing 4.2 innings with eight strikeouts and four earned runs against. DiNapoli came in to pitch the final inning of the contest and earned her first save of the season.

ACCORDING TO COACH PENDLETON-HELM
"It was a great weekend for the Bears! Playing at home for the first time in front of our fans was very exciting. I asked the team what they wanted to show our fans and they simply said, 'Bear Softball,' and they did exactly that."

"They put it all together in all aspects of the game, but most of all, they showed a ton of fight in the last game. Their energy never wavered, and they just kept clawing back each inning. We had a ton of key hits with two outs, and out freshman Ella Gonzales really came through twice. The entire team stepped up in that last game. I am very proud of the fight they showed for each other. We had a ton of growth this weekend."

BY THE NUMBERS

Sabrina Javorsky led the Bears over the doubleheader with a .667 batting average with two hits in three at-bats. Her two hits being the 3-run homer to give the Bears an 8-0 lead in game one, and single to give the Bears the lead for the 11-10 comeback win.
Carson Fischer batted .600 on the day, recording three hits in five at-bats, hitting one double and recording four RBI.
In the three-game series, Lauren Strathearn led the Bears with a .545 batting average. The senior from Broomfield, Colo., recorded six hits in 11 at-bats as the Bears lead-off hitter. She scored four runs on the weekend.
Isabelle DiNapoli pitched a near perfect six innings, conceding no runs, no walks, and just three hits.
Erin Caviness pitched a total of 10.2 innings over the weekend, earning two wins with a 2.62 ERA. She struck out 15 batters over the weekend series.

UP NEXT
Northern Colorado hits the road next weekend for the Shocker Invitational, hosted by Wichita State, March 17-19. The Bears will take on South Dakota State and the host Shockers on Friday, with the first game starting at 10 a.m. (MT).