LAS VEGAS, NM- The Cougars continued RMAC play on the road on Saturday as they headed south to take on New Mexico Highlands in a doubleheader. The #7 team in the nation wasted little time in putting away the Cowgirls, run-ruling the hosts 14-3 in the first contest before claiming a dominant 8-0 victory in game two.
GAME ONE
CCU got on the board in the first inning with an RBI groundout from
Kenzie Middleton before they exploded in the second inning.
Camryn Quilling knocked home two with a double, and
Kayla Middleton singled home another for a 4-0 lead.
Sami Edwards notched an RBI fielder's choice, while
Samaria Roope doubled home a pair more for a 7-0 advantage.
The onslaught continued as
Logan Menzies and
Leah Garcia delivered consecutive RBI doubles, and
Elyse McMullin capped the inning with an RBI single as the Cougars took a 10-0 lead. Menzies tacked on another run in the third with a sac fly before New Mexico Highlands managed to get three in the bottom of the third.
Kayla tripled home a run in the fourth, and Edwards notched a sacrifice fly before
Kaila Eastburn closed out the scoring with an RBI double in the 14-3 mercy-rule victory.
Hanna Espinoza improved to 11-0 on the year with three innings of work while Rawnie Westrate closed the final two frames with just one hit allowed. It was an incredible display of offensive balance as all 9 players in the batting order tallied at least one RBI.
GAME TWO
The second contest saw the Cougars strike first in the second on a McMullin double, and
Cheyenne Stark continued the scoring with a run-scoring single. Kayla notched a sac fly for a 3-0 lead before
Kenzie Middleton uncorked a two-run bomb to extend the lead to 5-0.
For the remainder of the game, CCU used great pitching and quality defense to continue to pull away while shutting down the Cowgirls. A sacrifice fly from Edwards in the fourth was followed by a Eastburn sac fly in the sixth as the lead stood at 7-0.
Mia Stankiewicz scored the final run for the Cougars as she raced home on a wild pitch in the seventh as the game ended with an 8-0 tally in favor of CCU.
Eastburn pitched the entire seven innings, stifling the hosts with just three hits allowed and six strikeouts. Kenzie led the offense with her two-run homer in the dominant win.
The Cougars close their four-game series in New Mexico on April 7 with a doubleheader starting at 11 a.m. and closing at 1 p.m. MST.
