DENVER, Colo. – The Regis University softball team stayed perfect in conference on Sunday, completing its series sweep against the Grizzlies with two big games from the offense.
The Rangers (12-6 overall, 8-0 RMAC) had a seven-run inning in both games while they also put up 10 runs in the bottom of the third in Game Two against the Grizzlies (2-15 overall, 0-8 RMAC).
Almost every Ranger posted at least one hit, while junior right-hander Kylie Harpman earned her seventh and eighth wins of the season.
"I can't say enough about this group. They make me proud to be their coach and I wouldn't want to go to battle with anyone else," said Regis head softball coach, Nicole Thompson. "I keep on saying it, but this group just has something different. Sometimes yeah we get ourselves into bad situations but there's a fire that doesn't stop burning with them. It's huge to come out with another series sweep. It's tough to beat people four times in the RMAC so to be able to do that and not drop one today just says what our team is and what they are and their identity."
GAME ONE | HOW IT HAPPENED
Regis posted its third run-rule win of the weekend thanks to a seven-run explosion in the bottom of the fifth that also secured their second walk-off win of the series.
With a 2-1 lead going into the bottom of the fifth, freshman utility Sydney Young got the ball rolling for the Rangers as she scored the first of seven runs thanks to a wild pitch.
A single from sophomore outfielder Sienna Reed pushed the second and third runs across the plate while a sacrifice fly, a fielder's choice, and another single scored runs six through eight.
Young started the big inning and wrapped it up with a walk-off double to right center that came from the first pitch of her at-bat.
Junior right-hander Kylie Harpman only gave up one run on four hits in her seven innings of work.
"Day two is all about adjustments. Who can make the adjustments on the pitcher and what pitcher can make adjustments on their hitters. We talk about still having that mindset and sticking to the game plan," Thompson said. "Was it a little bit slower today until the fifth? Absolutely. I thought Davis pitched really well and kept us off balance and then the fifth, that just tells you who we are. When we step on the gas pedal offensively, there's no one that can stop us. To be able to have that huge inning and save our pitchers' arms is huge. If we didn't have that, we wouldn't have been able to bring Kylie back in Game Two. Not playing a full seven innings helps our bodies."
GAME NOTES
GAME TWO | HOW IT HAPPENED
In the fourth and final game of the two-day series, the lead changed three different times with the final change falling in the Rangers' favor in a game that saw 33 total runs across both offenses.
The Grizzlies jumped to a huge 9-0 lead that ended in the top of the third.
But despite being down by nine, the Rangers blew the game open with a ten-run bottom of the third that was highlighted by freshman infielder Jessica Isbell's first hit as a Ranger and a double from junior infielder Ariana Ybarra to push across a fifth of the total runs in the half inning.
Up 10-9 in the top of the fourth, Adams State battled back and added three runs to their total to reclaim the lead, 12-10.
In the fifth, the Rangers again exploded for a multi-run performance with seven in the fifth thanks to a single from Ybarra that turned into a four-run hit and a double from Williams to make it 17-12 at the end of the inning.
Adams State's Krista Healy hit a two-run home run in the top of the sixth and pushed another across in the seventh, but the Rangers held on and came out on top, 18-15.
"My gut reaction is thank god I'm with this group. We came out on top and it could've gone so many different ways and they could've just completely quit going down 9-0 but they didn't. They looked at each other and said 'Look, we've got a lot of ball game left, we're going to do this together and we're going to go down fighting.' When they said that to each other, I knew that we were going to compete until the very last out," Thompson said. "That's what we do. They never give up on each other, they want to pass the bat to the person who's next. The pitching staff knows between our injuries, people are down, maybe our defense isn't the best, but whoever's number gets called, they need to be ready and get into the game and go. Game Four's like this has become more of a football score for sure. Game Fours can get hectic and wild, but how can we stay grounded and how can we do the little things and still be intentional with everything? We helped ourselves out in the fifth with getting up quite a bit and once we did that, I knew our defense could settle in and finish the job."
GAME NOTES
- Morgan Norris led all Rangers in RBIs with four
- Kylie Harpman earned her second back-to-back win with her seventh in Game One and eighth in Game Two
UP NEXT
The Rangers will travel across town to take on the Metropolitan State University Denver Roadrunners on Saturday. First pitch is scheduled for noon.
"We're excited. It's always a little bit of a rivalry but they're also 8-0 in conference as well. We don't want to look ahead at the schedule but we knew that if we took care of business these first two weekends, it was going to set us up to meet up with them. I'm excited for it, I think the girls are excited for it. We respect that team, they're a very good team and they can do everything. I think it's going to be a good matchup. If anyone doesn't have anything to do, I think Saturday would be a good day to get down to Metro and watch two top teams in the RMAC."
