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Miners’ softball team had a split opening day, falling in their first game against Incarnate Word, 4-1, but bouncing back to defeat them 13-3 in the second game.
“The first game they had the first-game jitters,” head coach Tobin Echo-Hawk said. “We weren’t our selves and we were tentative. The plate is our strength and we just didn’t take advantage of their mistakes.”
Throughout the first game, the Miners simply could not get anything going on offense and had troubles defensively.
In the first inning Incarnate Word had no hits, and one walk on base; but in the second inning UIW had a run by Christy Trevino for a score off a Kellen Robles hit.
The story of the day, however, was the defensive prowl UIW put on from the get-go. In the bottom of the second inning, shortstop Victoria Bratcher of UIW made an athletic left field catch on the ball that would’ve been a potential double for UTEP. UIW had the field locked down on every hit, fly ball or foul ball, as Bratcher and first baseman Katie Helm both made some athletic diving plays to stop any momentum the Miners were trying to gain.
It was downhill from there for the Miners as in the third inning as Victoria Bratcher of the Cardinals added another run.
On top of this, UIW was capitalizing off UTEP’s errors in the sixth inning. Natalie Duron got a double to second and from there, UIW had a nice run on the plates as Samantha Mendoza hit a single. Then, Kellen Robles finished it off with an RBI to send Duron and Mendoza to home plate for a two run score.
Echo-Hawk and her squad had a small momentum change in the bottom of that sixth inning as Courtney Clayton hit a home run, giving the Miners their first and only point of the matchup. They were stunted after, and UIW closed the inning with a double play.
During the second matchup, the Miners rolled with Kiki Pepi’s two home runs and five RBI, and Courtney Clayton ended the game with four RBI. They had a 11-run second inning that lifted them up the entire game.
“The bats were on fire, and the girls were swinging the bat like they normally do, just having fun and controlling the at bats,” Echo-Hawk said. “When you do that, good things happen.”
Echo-Hawk and the ladies will travel to Las Cruses for the NM State Invitational on Saturday, Feb. 13. They will face Incarnate Word, followed by a three-game series versus New Mexico State with two games being played on Saturday and the final game being held on Sunday, Feb. 14.
Christopher Piñones may be reached at [email protected]
