Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
LUBBOCK — Eastern New Mexico University’s softball team pushed across three runs in the top of the eighth on Friday to beat Colorado State-Pueblo 10-7 at Frenship H.S. in Wolfforth and earn a split on the first day of Lubbock Christian’s Sports College Invitational.
Earlier in the day, the Greyhounds (2-1) dropped an 8-4 decision to Nebraska-Kearney at Cooper Field in Lubbock. They were slated to face Southern Nazarene and Newman on Saturday night before closing out the event with games today against Colorado-Colorado Springs and Chadron State.
Pueblo (0-2) took a 6-4 lead with a three-run fifth, but ENMU junior catcher Andrea Cline put ENMU back in front 7-6 with a three-run homer in the top of the sixth. The teams were even at 7-7 going into the extra frame.
Freshman right-hander Brook Leger (2-0), the fourth ENMU hurler, struck out six Thunderwolves over the final three innings to gain the win. Meantime, she started the Kearney game and fanned five over four-plus innings of work.
The Lopers (1-0) erased a 4-2 deficit with three runs in the top of the fifth, getting an RBI double from left fielder Jasmyn Broussard and run-scoring singles from shortstop Kaitlyn Johnson and designated player Nicole Spykstra, and added three in the sixth capped by run-scoring singles from Johnson and center fielder Alexis Ray.
ENMU tied the game 1-1 on DP Mackenzie Shaw’s sacrifice fly in the first, then took a 3-1 lead in the second on Iliana Mendoza’s run-scoring single and an RBI groundout by Cline. They made it 4-2 in the fourth when pinch-runner Mikenzey Patterson scored from third on a Kearney error.
Senior first baseman Samantha Brockman went 3-for-3 for ENMU, while infielders Elysa Rodriguez and Jokaira Paredes each had two hits. Erin Hallman (1-0) went four innings to earn the win for the Lopers before Kelsey Goodban pitched three shutout innings for a save.
Following their games in Lubbock, ENMU will head to Tuscon this weekend for the Cactus Classic. The first game is 3 p.m. Friday against Simon Fraser.
