The Skyhawks are perfect no more at home.
But Kiley Raica was the perfect remedy for what ailed the Fort Lewis College softball team.
After FLC suffered its first home loss of the season, 6-1 to Chadron State on Sunday, Raica helped the Skyhawks rebound with a complete-game pitching performance as FLC won the second game of the doubleheader, 5-2.
FLC, which swept a pair from Chadron on Saturday, is now 7-1 at home. Thanks in large part to Raica’s effort. She surrendered two runs on five hits and struck out four while throwing 119 pitches.
She got all the support she needed in one inning via the long ball.
Trailing 2-0, Tristen Gilbert and Mandy Owens opened the bottom of the fourth with consecutive home runs over the center-field fence to quickly knot the score at 2, and Jeovanna Rios followed with a three-run shot to left field later in the inning, plating Kaitlyn Bending and Myndee Thompson for what proved to be the final margin.
The Skyhawks finished the game with nine hits. Gilbert tallied three hits and Thompson added two to lead the Skyhawks.
In the opening game, Rios batted in Thompson for the Skyhawks’ lone score of the game in the bottom of the first inning. Chadron State plated one run in the first and second innings, added two more in the third and a run in the fifth and sixth innings for the 6-1 win.
Victoria Johnson was the pitcher of record for FLC, allowing four runs (three earned) on six hits in 2.1 innings of work.
Olivia Goldberg finished the game in the circle, allowing two runs (one earned) on four hits.
Missy Fundora accounted for two of the Skyhawks five hits.
Fort Lewis (11-12, 9-3 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) hosts UC-Colorado Springs and Regis in RMAC pod play this weekend.
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