Softball games can go one way or the other in the blink of an eye. So was the case for the Fort Lewis College women’s softball team when it welcomed pod play Saturday at Aspen Field with New Mexico Highlands and Colorado Mines visiting.
The Skyhawks split the day with an 8-7 win over New Mexico Highlands and a tough 7-3 loss to Colorado Mines.
FLC senior Missy Fundora had six hits between the two games while compiling four runs batted in. Fundora’s six hits also was enough to tie the Fort Lewis College all-time hits record of 204, tying her with Chelsea Rodriguez, who set the record in 2013.
Fundora tied the record against Colorado Mines’ Hallie Smith in the fourth inning of the second game.
Reaching a big milestone was nice, but Fundora would have rather gotten the win over the Orediggers instead.
“I didn’t even realize, I had no clue (about the record),” Fundora said. “I feel like I was hitting good, but I’m not too happy with the end score, so it’s hard to be happy when your team loses.”
Fundora went 3-for-5 with three RBIs against New Mexico Highlands (7-20, 4-14 RMAC) in Game 1. Denae Fisher went 2-for-4 with two runs scored. Joeovanna Rios had a monster game, going 2-for-4 with four RBIs. Gianna Melaragno also went 2-for-4 with two runs scored.
Victoria Johnson pitched six strong innings with nine strikeouts, but it was Rachel Foos who got the win against the Cowgirls, as she came on in relief in the seventh.
FLC (9-22, 6-10 RMAC) held a 5-1 lead going into the sixth, but the Cowgirls rattled off four runs to pull within one. The Skyhawks extended the lead by scoring a run in the bottom of the sixth, but the Cowgirls scored three more runs to take the lead.
The Skyhawks needed two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to win, and it was Fundora to the rescue as she drove in Melaragno and Mandy Owens on a single to left field to secure the walk-off win.
In Game 2, FLC held to a thin thread for most of the game behind a strong performance from Olivia Goldberg in the circle against the Colorado Mines Orediggers (11-14, 9-9 RMAC). Luck didn’t last long, though, as Goldberg couldn’t hold a 3-1 lead heading into the seventh inning. Throughout the game, Goldberg ruffled Colorado Mines’ feathers, totaling seven strikeouts. But in the end, she let the Orediggers hang around for too long.
Heading into the seventh inning, FLC allowed a six-run seventh inning from the Orediggers. Johnson and Foos came in for temporary relief.
Fundora went 3-for-3 with a run and an RBI, and Lauren Caldwell went 2-for-3 in the second game.
“There’s a lot that we want to work on,” Fundora said. “We got the win in the first game, but we had things we needed to work on in the second. Unfortunately, we didn’t get the ball to go our way in the seventh inning. In the second game, our pitchers worked hard, but it just came down to needing those three outs. Just for us to have the winning mentality is what we needed.”
With FLC up 2-1 in the sixth inning, Owens came to the plate and hit a solo home run for run insurance.
“As a team, I think we hit pretty decent,” Owens said. “I’ve been in a hitting slump, so I’ve been just hacking at the ball and getting ready. I swung, and it went over.”
With a win in their grasp, the Skyhawks gave up six runs with two outs in the top of the seventh inning. Finishing games is something first-year head coach Elle Fracker hinted the Skyhawks needed to focus in on more.
Despite winning the first game, FLC allowed Highlands to make a late-game comeback that nearly cost the Skyhawks the game. Against Colorado Mines, FLC let the game slip away late.
“I wasn’t overly impressed by (Saturday),” Fracker said. “It was two games that we shouldn’t have had problems with. We made it much more difficult than we needed to. I don’t think it has anything to do with youth, we just don’t have a killer instinct.
“It’s a mindset and its learned and it comes with winning games like that, and we’re just not there yet.”
Originally from Cleveland, Fracker spent the past two years as head coach at Valley City State in Valley City, North Dakota, which is an NAIA school. Fracker has eight years total of coaching collegiate softball. She also played at Indiana State.
Fracker believes FLC has talent in the lineup and in the field, but finishing games is the main concern.
“We have a lot of winnable games left, but they have to start believing that we can win them,” said Fracker.
FLC’s top offensive threat Angelique Elemen, a freshman catcher mustered only two hits on the day, but, according to Fracker, having a freshman who leads the team in batting is encouraging. Elemen is hitting for a .422 average with eight home runs and 29 RBIs.
“It’s nice to have a freshman who can come in and hit this well because she’s under most people’s radars,” Fracker said. “But she’s going to have a time now because she’s getting scouted and teams are pitching her differently.”
In Saturday’s other game, Colorado Mines beat New Mexico Highlands 12-4. All three teams will be back at it Sunday, with action beginning at 10 a.m. at Aspen Field.
jmentzer@durangoherald.com
