DENVER, Colo. – The Regis Softball team picked up their first RMAC win as they split a doubleheader with Colorado Mesa University on Sunday afternoon. Regis took the early game, 4-1, while Mesa took the series finale, 4-3. The Rangers move to 2-8 (1-3 RMAC), while the Mavericks now sit at 4-8 (3-1 RMAC).

GAME ONE

While CMU was able to get two runners on in the top of the first, but the Rangers would score first, as Kiauna Smith earned a lead-off single, and came home on a Jessica Isbell single. Isbell was then able to score on a wild pitch to go up, 2-0. Two strikeouts from Ava Edwards helped make short work of Mesa in the second, and the Mavericks stranded two more runners in the third.

In the bottom of the third, Zoey Langerak led off with a double, but was thrown out on Smith's single. Smith then stole second, putting her in scoring position for Olivia Wick, who batted her in on a fielder's choice. Mesa got on the board in the top of the fourth inning on a double and RBI single. Following three ground outs for Mesa in the fifth, Regis extended their lead as Smith doubled and scored on a Wick RBI.

Colorado Mesa managed two base runners in the sixth inning, and another in the seventh, but the Rangers held on on defense, securing the 4-1 win.

GAME NOTES

·        Smith went 3-3 at the plate, scoring three runs, and stole a base

·        Three other Rangers had a single hit

·        Five Mavericks had a hit, with Olivia Litzen at two

·        Edwards (W, 1-0) earned the complete game win, striking out four

·        Sophia Tassinari (L, 2-3) had two K's in the total game effort

GAME TWO

Eleanor Sikora picked off a runner at first base to set a defensive tone in the late game, while the Rangers posted two singles in the first inning, but were unable to score. Following a quick second frame, Mesa left two runners on in the third without a score. However, the Rangers loaded the bases in the bottom of the inning and were also unable to score.

Two singles by the Mavericks got CMU on the board first in the top of the fourth. The Ranger's bats came alive in the sixth inning with Isabella Ports leading off with a single up the middle, and with two outs, scored on a pinch-hitting Bella Bordine's double. Janelle Erickson, hobbled by injury, followed that with a pinch-hitting single that scored Angelina Romero-Barros and Enyssa Dominguez.

The Mavericks had an answer in the seventh inning, evening the game with a two-out, two-run homer. Micha Pittman found herself on third in the bottom of the seventh, but was stranded there. Colorado Mesa then took the final lead of the game on an inside-the-park home run to the right field corner. Romero-Barros singled, and Dominguez reached base, but the rally ended there for Regis, 3-4.

GAME NOTES

·        Isbell led RU with a pair of hits

·        Erickson batting in two runs on her lone plate appearance

·        Makayla Westmoreland had two hits and an RBI for CMU

·        Vanessa Candito (L, 0-2) threw the whole game for Regis, posting five strikeouts

·        Tassanari (W, 3-3) came in in relief and earned the win

UP NEXT

 The Rangers travel to Adams State University next weekend, Feb 28-Mar 1, for their first RMAC road series.