FORT COLLINS, Colo. – In a defensive battle through 14 innings played between the two, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi softball team split a doubleheader matchup at Colorado State to open the weekend, winning game one 1-0 before falling 4-0 in game two Friday at Ram Field.
The Islanders (6-11) and the Rams (6-11) couldn't get a lot of offensive production on the day, with the latter's four runs in game two mainly coming off a pair of errors by the visiting squad in one unfortunate inning.
In game one, however,
Kendra Winfrey shutdown Colorado State with the complete-game shutout for her first win of the season in the circle. She struck out four in her outing, only allowing three batters to reach on balls.
It wasn't until the seventh inning that the Islanders' offense would finally breakthrough in the deadlock, with
Ripley Welker reaching base on the lead-off walk.
Monee Montilla laid down the bunt to advance Welker on the sacrifice and the single from pinch-hitter
Madison Espinoza went deep enough for Welker to round third and slide home for the 1-0 score that would ultimately hold for the win.
It gave Welker the go-ahead run as team leader in the category as well for the season, now up to seven.
Espinoza would knock a base-hit in game two as well, joining
Mimi Thornton as the only two Islanders to register a hit in both games on the day. It shot Thornton up to a .310 batting average on the year, a team high.
However, game two didn't see as much efficiency in the Islanders turning runs while two early baserunners in the bottom of the fourth gave the Rams momentum who took advantage of two fielding errors to plate all four of their runs.
The win in game one gave A&M-Corpus Christi their first ever over Colorado State, who continues to lead the all-time series 3-1.
On deck:
The Islanders will continue through the weekend in The Centennial State, taking on Northern Colorado tomorrow at 11:30 a.m. before rematching Colorado State for the last time at 4:30 p.m. A&M-Corpus Christi will round out play Sunday against Northern Colorado at 12 p.m.
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