GREAT FALLS, Mont. – Lady Argo softball improved significantly from Game 1 to Game 2 against #18 Corban University, and roughed up a few talented pitchers, but couldn't keep the Warriors from scoring runs. UGF lost both games of the home doubleheader, 13-4 (5 innings) and 9-6.
Game 1's first inning turned out to be a bit of foreshadowing. UGF's starting pitcher, redshirt-freshman
Mikayla Deigan, only allowed 1 hit in the inning, but walked two to load the bases with 1 out. She managed to get out of the inning with only 1 run scored, but the threat of Corban's offense was established.
Fears of a one-sided game were temporarily quelled in the bottom of the inning. UGF's second batter, junior
Bailey Henderson, singled up the middle and didn't stay at first base for long. The next batter was junior
Kylie Gonzales who sent a blast over the fence in left center for her sixth home run of the season.
A double from senior
Jackie Thomas brought in another run four batters later to give the Lady Argos a 3-1 lead.
That lead held through the first three Corban batters in the top of the second. Those three batters all reached base safely, however, and soon evened the score on a fielder's choice gone wrong by way of a UGF throwing error.
That error opened the flood gates. The Warriors score a total of 6 runs in the inning, registering 5 hits, including 2 doubles. They also forced a pitching change for UGF, with senior
Shelby Abeyta coming in to relieve Deigan.
Henderson made up for one of those runs, driving junior
Makaylee Jaussi home with another single to center. That would be the last score of the game for UGF, but not for Corban.
A Warrior home run in the third and a 5-run rally in the fourth put the game well out of UGF's reach at 13-5. In the bottom of the fourth and fifth, the Lady Argos went three up, three down and the game ended at the end of the fifth on an 8-run mercy rule.
In the end, UGF used three different pitchers in the game, and the only one to have any real success was junior
Kristina George. She entered the game in the top of the fourth, with two runners on and no outs. In that inning, as well as in the fifth, George didn't let up an earned run. She also finished the game with 3 strike outs, the only of the game for UGF.
Despite only lasting one and two thirds innings in Game 1, Abeyta started for UGF in Game 2. Things didn't start well for her, with the first batter of the contest hitting a solo home run to center. The next batter singled, and the next doubled to right and brought in a second run.
After that, the senior settled down a bit, only allowing 2 more earned runs over the next four innings while striking out 3. Even so, heading into the bottom of the fifth, the Lady Argos trailed 5-1.
A Warrior fielding error to start the inning put Gonzales on base and kick started a Lady Argo rally. Another error brought Gonzales to third and a single from senior
Jocelyn Kaufman then brought her home.
A single from Thomas loaded the bases with 1 out and wild pitch brought another Argo across home plate. Jaussi drove in another run with a single to center, and then a senior
Paige Bodner hit a 2 RBI double to center to give UGF a 6-5 lead.
Just as Corban's 2 errors in the bottom of fifth aided UGF's 5-run rally, 2 errors from the Lady Argos in the top of the sixth, helped the Warriors to a 4-run response. Those 4 runs give the Warriors back the lead, 9-6, and it stayed that way till the end of the game.
The two losses drop the Lady Argos into ninth place in the Cascade Collegiate Conference with a record of 11-16 (3-14). UGF will get two more cracks at upsetting Corban, the conference's top team, with a home doubleheader on April 8 at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.
