The Fort Lewis College softball team split its home series with the University of Colorado Colorado Springs over the weekend, winning both games Saturday before dropping Sunday’s contests.
Hannah Rutherford broke open a scoreless Game 2 Saturday with a three-run home run, propelling the FLC to a 4-0 victory and a first day sweep. The Skyhawks won the first game 3-1.
UCCS then won Sunday’s games 9-0 and 8-7.
Sloan Shotten started Fort Lewis’ fifth-inning rally in Game 2 Saturday with a double over the center fielder’s head. Taya Opheim then walked, giving Rutherford two runners on base. After Rutherford ripped the ball, UCCS’ left fielder made a good run to chase it down and was able to get a glove on the ball, but she was unable to deny the home run from landing on the other side of the fence.
FLC got an insurance run in the sixth. Kamie Matsukawa pinch ran for Sydney Stewart, who reached on a fielder’s choice, and promptly stole second to get into scoring position. Cat Rodman then traded her places with an RBI double.
Hailie Mann, meanwhile, threw a complete-game shutout for the Skyhawks, giving up four base hits and two walks in seven innings of work.
In Game 1, Katie Pippel gave FLC a 1-0 lead in the fifth inning when she singled home Opheim.
UCCS tied the game with an unearned run in the sixth, but FLC countered in the bottom of the inning. With Matsukawa and Cara Daugherty on base, Opheim hit a towering foul ball down the right-field line that clipped the fielder’s glove and brought both runners home.
Amiee Shanks pitched a complete game to get the win, giving up six hits and no earned runs in seven innings.
On Sunday, the Mountain Lions were ready to go right from first pitch and scored one run in the first, one in the second, five in the third and two more in the fourth to win the first game, 9-0.
In Game 2, the Skyhawks quickly got ahead when Alex Tenorio hit her seventh triple of the season and scored on a Pippel RBI ground out.
UCCS tied the game at 1-1, but FLC scored four in the second to go back ahead, 5-1, with Rutherford, Tenorio and Pippel tallying three-straight RBI knocks.
UCCS tied the game again in the fourth, but FLC went back ahead in the bottom of the inning when Gilley brought home Tenorio.
FLC extended the lead in the fifth when Opheim sent a sharp liner to the gap in right-center to score Shotton from second.
A throwing error, however, helped UCCS tie the game at 7-7 in the sixth. The Mountain Lions then took the lead for good in the seventh with two straight singles, followed by a sacrifice bunt and an RBI ground out.
FLC is now 8-25 overall and will next play a four-game series at New Mexico Highlands beginning Saturday.
The Fort Lewis College women's golf team finished in 25th place at the RJGA Palm Valley Classic at the Palm Valley Golf Club. Northeastern State took home the team crown at +12 for the two-day outing.
Molly Schwartz paced the team on day one, finishing tied for 84th at +7. Schwartz played even through her first two holes of the day before going +3 over her next three holes. Emma Tornroos followed with a 93rd-place finish at +8 for the round. Kendal Gutierrez was the team’s next finisher, coming in at 103rd.
On Day 2, Tornoos had a better outing, finishing +5 for the round to close out the meet in 77th place (+13). She carded 11 pars to go along with a birdie.
Brooke Sturtevant was the team’s next finisher at +4 for the round, putting her in 94th overall after shooting a +11 the first day.
Molly Schwartz had a +12 day, carding eight pars and eight bogeys to close out the meet in 122nd place. Gutierrez was the next finisher for the Skyhawks, finishing +13 for the day and 129th place overall.
The Fort Lewis men’s and women’s track and field teams competed in their second meet of the year over the weekend – the Maverick Invite at Colorado Mesa.
“This was a fantastic meet for our women’s program. Eight of our 14 women that raced left with lifetime bests which is huge,” said head coach Shawn Jakubowski. “They are starting to reap the benefits of all the hard work they have put in. We are leaving this meet with a lot of confidence and looking to use this momentum to grab some more big personal bests as we enter the middle part of the season.”
Esther Beck, who led the team in the 10K, finishing ninth in a personal record time of 40:23.74. Brandy Ray posted a personal best in 42:33.05, for 13th place.
Saylor Sargent (2:16.59) and Katie Fankhouser (2:17.16) led the team in the 800-meters with eighth- and ninth-place finishes.
Angel Curley placed 16th in the 1,500 in 4:58.56.
Carmella Wright picked up a fifth-place finish in the 3,000-meter steeplechase (12:18.69).
Krista Benze put up a lifetime best in the 400-meter hurdles with a fifth-place time of 1:07.51.
The team’s 4x400 relay was another highlight. Benze, Curley, Fankhouser, and Sargent finished 1.5 seconds shy of a school record in 4:05.88.
Steven Nez led the FLC men in the 10K, placing eighth in 31:48.15. Ricardo Trejo placed 12th in 32:07.20, Cody Speece crossed 15th in 32:56.88, and David Wilcox placed 22nd in 33:03.63.
Aaron Busche led the team in the 800, placing ninth in 1:55.85.
Cebastian Marquez paced the team in the 5,000, finishing 11th in 15:39.38.
In the 3,000-meter steeplechase, Ethan Bartlett’s third-place mark (9:59.37) led the team. Kiddo Gaorekwe (4th, 10:10.57), Max Robinson (5th, 10:23.18), and Braedon Sittman (6th, 10:27.77) also placed high for the Skyhawks.
