The Fort Lewis College softball team is making strides, but the progress isn’t showing up in the standings.
The Skyhawks (3-16, 0-6 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference)) visited UC-Colorado Springs for a doubleheader Saturday afternoon and were swept again, losing 9-1 in five innings and 6-5 in a Game 2 that took nine innings to decide.
Freshman catcher Angelique Elemen has emerged as a major power source for Fort Lewis, and she had her best game to date in Saturday’s second game.
Elemen belted two home runs, her fourth and fifth of the season, in the team’s 11th consecutive loss. Her first blast gave the Skyhawks a 1-0 lead. After the Mountain Lions responded with a run in each of the first three innings, Elemen’s second long ball cut the deficit to 3-2.
UCCS (7-4, 4-2 RMAC) took a two-run lead into the final inning, but the Skyhawks came up big in the seventh with two of their own to send the game to extra innings. Mandy Owens’ eighth-inning home run for FLC was answered by a homer by the Mountain Lions, who won the game in the ninth on a single by Makenna Smith.
Victoria Johnson pitched all 8 2/3 innings, giving up 16 hits and six earned runs while striking out 11. The improving FLC defense finished the nine-inning game with zero errors.
Fort Lewis lost the opener after four Mountain Lions home runs in the first three innings gave the home team a 7-0 lead. Lauren Caldwell’s fifth-inning single drove in Denae Fisher for FLC;s only run in the game.
The two teams will play two more Sunday starting at 11 a.m. in Colorado Springs.
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