Snow in Denver couldn’t slow down a special day for Fort Lewis College softball star Chelsea Rodriguez.
Rodriguez belted two home runs in a 10-1, six-inning victory for the Skyhawks against Regis on Sunday. Rodriguez’s second blast was her 33rd career homer, giving the senior a tie with Jenna Peters in the FLC record books for the most home runs in school history.
The celebration was short-lived, though, as FLC (5-9, 1-3 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) lost the second game of the doubleheader 8-4 to the Regis Rangers (4-10, 3-1 RMAC). FLC dropped three of the four games at Regis over the weekend.
“It felt good to get the win in the first game because it shows what we are capable of doing,” FLC head coach Kira Zeiter said. “We were on fire in all aspects of the game.
“But we are never satisfied with only one win in four games. We need to work in practice this week so we can take all four next time.”
Sunday’s games were delayed nearly two hours because of overnight snow.
The Skyhawks scored 10 runs on 11 hits in Game 1. Rodriguez was 2-for-3 with three runs batted in. Destinee DeHerrera was 4-for-4 at the plate with four RBIs.
Victoria Johnson (2-3) earned a win in the circle for the Skyhawks. She gave up six hits in six innings while surrendering one unearned run. She had two strikeouts and no walks.
Game 2 was a different story, with the Rangers hammering the Skyhawks in the game’s middle innings.
FLC led 3-0 going to the bottom of the second inning when the Rangers scored three runs on three FLC errors to tie the game. Regis tacked on two more runs in the third inning and three in the fourth to take a commanding 8-3 lead.
Myndee Thompson hit a home run in the top of the sixth inning for FLC, but the Skyhawks couldn’t rally any further despite 10 hits in the game.
Kiley Raica took the loss in the circle for FLC. She pitched 4 1/3 innings, with Katie Watkins relieving her. Raica gave up six hits and three earned runs while striking out two Rangers and walking two more. Watkins allowed five hits and three runs, including a home run.
“We had a lot of defensive miscues behind them,” Zeiter said of her pitchers. “When you give teams extra outs at this level, they take advantage.”
FLC will play at home for the first time this season when they open a six-game pod against Adams State at 10 a.m. Saturday at Aspen Field. The Skyhawks will face Western New Mexico at 2 p.m. Saturday.
“It will be nice to play at home. We have been on the road the first three weekends. It has been good experience against good competition, but it will be nice to come home and defend our home field.”
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