RSU Softball Cats Place Third at Cowtown Classic

The Rogers State softball team closed out the first week of the 2010 season with a third place finish at the Cowtown Classic Friday and Saturday in Ft. Worth, Texas.

The Hillcats went 3-2 during the two-day event with wins over Graceland University, Evangel University and Missouri Valley College. RSU’s only losses came at the hands of 13th-ranked University of Houston-Victoria. The Jaguars staged a seventh-inning rally to beat the Cats on Friday morning and edged them again in the tournament semi-finals Saturday afternoon. Fifth-ranked Lubbock Christian knocked off UHV in the championship game to claim the title.

GAME ONE (vs. Houston Victoria)

The weekend got off to a rough start for the Hillcats as they gave up four runs in the top of the seventh inning and suffered an 8-7 loss to Houston-Victoria in the tournament opener.

The Jaguars needed only two hits to stage the comeback. RSU contributed to the cause with two walks and two errors in the inning. Allison Hinton brought home the decisive run with a two-out single up the middle.

The Hillcats came up short despite providing some major fireworks on offense. Freshman Linsey Curtis led off the second inning with a home run to left field. Tye Coats cranked a grand slam in the fifth and Katie Bointy followed with a solo shot two batters later. RSU led 7-4 entering the final frame, but was unable to hold the lead.

GAME TWO (vs. Graceland)

A four-run fifth inning keyed a 10-6 victory over Graceland University in the second game of the day Friday.

Third baseman Sarah Harvey ripped a two-run single down the left field line to cap the fifth-inning scoring barrage. The Connors State transfer also swatted a two-run homer in the bottom of the first. Bointy added her second bomb of the day with a solo job to left-center in the third frame.

RSU cranked out 14 hits in the contest. Taryn Hernandez went 3-for-3 while Harvey, Bointy and Brittany White tallied two hits apiece. Hernandez picked up her first win of the spring with five innings of work. The left-hander allowed five runs, three earned, with six strikeouts.

GAME THREE (vs. Evangel)

RSU mounted a huge comeback to force extra innings and pulled off a 10-8 win with a dramatic walk-off homer in the bottom of the 10th inning against Evangel University.

The Cats trailed by four runs entering the bottom of the seventh inning before springing to life. Marie Gaudet opened the inning with a single to left field and Harvey followed with another titanic home run. Curtis launched a missile over the center wall and Hernandez tied the score with solo shot two-batters later.

The teams traded runs in the eighth and ninth innings under the international tie-breaker rule (each team begins their extra innings at-bat with a runner at second base). Evangel failed to score a run in the top of the tenth as Coats kept the ball on the infield for the entire inning.

Hernandez led off the bottom of the tenth with her second straight homer to bring the marathon battle to an abrupt ending. Coats worked all 10 innings in the pitcher’s circle to earn the victory. She fanned seven batters while walking just one. RSU tied a team record for home runs in a game with five.

GAME FOUR (vs. Missouri Valley)

The Hillcats posted a record-setting first inning en route to a 17-5, five-inning victory over Missouri Valley College Saturday morning.

RSU sent 20 hitters to the plate in the opening frame and scored a school-record 14 runs. Coach Mark Dicus’s club pounded out 11 hits in its first at-bat, including a grand slam courtesy of Curtis and a two-run dinger by Gaudet.

Dicus emptied his bench following the early onslaught and the Cats cruised to a 12-run win. Hernandez tallied three hits while Curtis posted six RBI. Former Hillcat Jackie Kragel was chased from the circle in the first inning and tagged with the loss. Hernandez (2-0) earned the win with four innings of relief.

GAME FIVE (vs. Houston-Victoria)

Untimely errors plagued the Hillcats in their rematch with Houston Victoria as the Jaguars capitalized on their good fortune with a 5-2 win in the tournament semi-finals.

RSU committed three errors in the top of the third inning, allowing UHV to take a 3-0 advantage. The Jaguars scored another unearned run in the fourth and plated their final run in the fifth inning on an obstruction call.

Curtis put the Cats on the scoreboard with an RBI single up the middle in the fifth and Harvey added a solo homer, her third of the weekend, in seventh. Emily Bergstrom shut the door following Harvey’s blast to secure a spot for the Jaguars in the finals. Coats (2-3) was tagged with a tough loss in a complete-game performance. The Texas Tech transfer allowed five unearned runs on six hits with two strikeouts.

Rogers State (4-3) will make its 2010 home debut Saturday at the Hillcat Complex. The Hillcats will face Grand View University at 11 a.m. and Evangel University at 1 p.m.

For more information on Hillcat Softball visit www.rsuhillcats.com.

Front row (l-r) Dalton Wagner, Jacob Jones, Arath Magallon, and Caden Buoy
Back row (l-r) Cortnie Dennis, Nelaya Sink, Daisie Jackson, Carmen Luevano, and Addison Long