GAME 1 - NEBRASKA-KEARNEY 8, MINES 4
A big sixth inning by Nebraska-Kearney gave the Lopers an 8-4 win over Colorado School of Mines to start the tournament.
UNK scored five in that inning to break a 3-3 ballgame after Mines had rallied back to tie it in the fourth.
Kayleigh Krueger had a pair of RBI and
Sidney Wilson and
Emilee Sloan also drove in runs for Mines, while
Trystin Oshiro-Sano and
Sara Larson each had two-hit games. Hailey Schaneman led UNK with three RBI on a first-inning home run, and Katie Gosker keyed their sixth-inning rally with a two-run blast.
Mines scored first on a Krueger sac fly in their first at-bat, playing
Renata Boyd after a lead-off error put her on. UNK responded with three runs in the bottom half of the first as an error and a walk put two on for Schaneman, who homered to center for the 3-1 lead.
The Orediggers clawed back a run on Krueger's double to plate Oshiro-Sano in the third, and Larson's fourth-inning triple converted to a run on Sloan's single to tie it 3-3. Things unraveled in the sixth, however, as Gosker's two-run homer put UNK ahead and Carlee Liesch's bases-clearing single later in the inning put UNK ahead 8-4. Wilson tried to get a rally going in the top of the seventh as her single brought
Lauren Decker in, but the Lopers turned a double play to end the game.
Lauren Decker departed in the sixth allowing five earned and striking out two;
Taylor Wayne pitched the Orediggers' final two outs and was charged with two runs. UNK combined three pitchers as Madison Rosenthal took no decision going four innings, Hannah Ice had the win in 2.1 innings of work, and Sydney Thomason came in to face one batter in the seventh.
GAME 2 - OKLAHOMA BAPTIST 4, MINES 2
Mines again rallied back from behind but couldn't catch up to Oklahoma Baptist in a 4-2 game.
The Orediggers were led at the plate by
Trystin Oshiro-Sano's 2-for-3, 1-RBI game and
Sidney Wilson also drove in a run. Aileen Avelar homered for OBU.
Avelar's two-run shot in the second got OBU on the board first but Oshiro-Sano's double to bring in
Renata Boyd cut the deficit in half at 2-1 in the third. The Bison had a two-run third in response as Reagan Ford scored on an error and Sammie Greene came across on a fielder's choice later in the inning.
Wilson's double scored Oshiro-Sano in the sixth, but Mines left the tying run on second and then went down in order in the seventh.
Kayleigh Jones earned the win with a complete-game, 12-strikeout performance.
Cassidy Chvatal pitched four tough innings and struck out three, and
Sadriena Rodriguez kept her ERA at zero with two innings of no-hit relief.
NEXT UP
Mines plays two more on Saturday, taking on Northwestern Oklahoma State before finishing the LCU CLassic with #4 West Texas A&M.
