KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Roadrunner softball team opened its Western Athletic Conference series with a doubleheader against Kansas City on Friday evening. CSU Bakersfield's late rally in the second game came up short as the `Runners dropped the pair of games to the Kangaroos.
Game 1
The Kangaroos put two runners in scoring position with no outs in the top of the first. A sacrifice fly plated the first run of the game and gave UMKC a 1-0 lead early on. The Roos put runners on the corners with one out in the top of the second and went on to plate three runs to extend their advantage to 4-0.
In the top of the fourth, three-straight `Runners singled to load the bases. Freshman Ariana Acedo delivered a two-out, two-RBI single to cut UMKC's lead in half. All momentum was slowed when an error kept the bottom half of the fourth helped UMKC put two more runs on the board and take a 6-2 lead.
The Roos added two more runs in the bottom of the fifth, while the `Runners were unable to mount a comeback and fell by a final score of 8-2.
Junior Paige Johnson and Acedo both put together 2-for-3 performances in Kansas City while Acedo's two RBI accounted for all of CSUB's offense. Senior Summer Evans took the loss after pitching two innings while freshman Daryn Hitzel pitched the final four innings, giving up just two earned runs.
Game 2
The `Runners and Roos traded several nice defensive plays in the early parts of the game. The pitchers' duel was fueled in part by CSUB's outfielders, who recorded five of the first six putouts for the `Runners.
In the top of the fifth, Chria Hipa led the frame off with a walk and moved to second on Gabrielle Fua's perfectly placed sacrifice bunt. Hipa advanced to third on a fly ball to right field, but she was cut down at home attempting a double steal later in the inning.
After rolling through the first four innings, the Roos finally caught up to Evans in the bottom half of the fifth. Sydney Garcia's RBI triple broke the game open and Ashlin O'Brien's RBI single plated Garcia to put UMKC ahead 2-0. In the bottom half of the sixth, Morgan Byrn's two-run home run doubled UMKC's lead.
Down to their final three outs, the `Runners mounted a valiant comeback effort. Johnson led the inning off with a walk and Hipa joined her on base after being hit by a pitch. Burt's RBI single plated Hipa to make the score 4-1. The `Runner rally was stopped there and UMKC held on for the victory and doubleheader sweep.
In her first career, Evelyn Mendoza went 2-for-3 from the plate as CSUB's designated player. Burt tallied CSUB's only other hit in the game while the `Runner reached base on six walks. Evans took the complete-game loss after pitching a solid outing.
The `Runners and Kangaroos will return to the field for a final game on Saturday. First pitch of the series finale is set for 11 a.m. (PT) and the game will also be streamed live on the WAC Digital Network.
~GoRunners.com~
