San Antonio, Texas – In a battle of third-ranked teams in the Southland Conference, UIW won the run-rule 11-3 as the Cardinals swept two games 4-3 to open a doubleheader against Nicholls State University softball on Friday. Win at HEB Field.
With the losses, Nicholls (25-24, 12-8 SLC) falls two games behind UIW (30-13, 14-6 SLC) in the standings, and the Cardinals see the advantage in any tiebreaker scenario for a seeding in the Southland Tournament. In two weeks. The teams will wrap up the series on Saturday with a noon kickoff.
Game 1 – UIW 11, Nichols 3 (5 in.)
UIW scored a combined 10 runs in both innings as the Colonels fell in the first game of a doubleheader on Friday.
Nicholls took an early 1-0 lead Abby Anderson A two-out RBI single. But after the Cardinals got a string of three RBI singles, an error in the bottom half led to four unearned UIW runs.
Alexa Boche' Larissa Jaquez crushed a two-run home run in the third to make it 4-3. However, this would be the last run for the Colonels.
In the bottom of the third, UIW chased Audrey McNeil out of the game after extending its lead to 6-3 with the bases still loaded and no outs. Avery Paden Victoria gave Altamirano a grand slam as the Cardinals took a 10-3 lead.
Nichols put runners on in the fourth and fifth innings, but lined into double plays at third base in both frames. Then in the top of the fifth, Alia Garcia hit a sacrifice fly to end the game.
Boche' and Reagan Heflin Had a 3-for-3 day at the plate, accounting for six of the Colonels' eight hits against Jaques.
McNeil had three runs on nine hits and one strikeout.
Game 2 – UIW 4, Nicholls 3
Nichols took a 3-0 lead through five and a half innings before UIW scored the final four runs of the game to take the doubleheader sweep.
With the match scoreless in all four innings, Riley Rutherford And Gabby Higbee He led off the frame with singles that resulted in a 2-0 Colonel lead. Molly Vandenbot Earlier took the RBI on a fielder's choice Mackenzie Champagne drove in another RBI groundout.
In the sixth, Rutherford singled Erin Cross For a 3-0 advantage. But UIW countered in the bottom half on its first run Molly U.
One out came in a seventh-inning rally for UIW. Two singles brought up Altamirano, the league's top hitter, and Yu swung her around to load the bags. However, Avalon Sanchez recorded his second hit of the match, doubling the game for a 4-3 victory.
Cross and Rutherford each had two hits for the Colonels. Yu took the loss after allowing four runs on eight hits. She walked three and struck out one.