Skyhawks softball went from pounding the ball into the ground in Game 1 to finding success in Game 2.
Fort Lewis College mustered just a pair of hits in a mercy-rule-shortened 8-0 loss in the first game before racking up eight hits in a 4-2 victory in the finale Sunday against Western New Mexico at Aspen Field to split their four-game set this weekend at two games apiece. After faltering against Domi Shone, FLC (13-20, 11-17 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) used a big third inning against Mustangs pitcher Amber Taynton in the second game to earn the split. Kaitlyn Bending opened the inning with a triple and scored on Chelsea Rodriguezs sacrifice fly. Kaylynn Harmon followed with a double and scored on a single by Hayley Bolyard, and two batters later, reigning RMAC Player of the Week Mariah Stuart drove home a pair of runs with a single, chasing Taynton and giving FLC a 4-1 lead. We saw pitches. Pitch selection was the big thing, Harmon said.
Victoria Johnson (7-5) made the big frame stand up, allowing runs in the first and seventh innings. She threw 6 2/3 innings, scattering 11 hits and allowing two earned runs while striking out six and walking one. Katie Watkins picked up her fourth save by recording the final out, throwing two pitches to do so.
She was just doing a great job of mixing spots and speeds and keeping the other team off balance, FLC head coach Kira Zeiter said of Johnson.
Harmon was 2-for-3 with a run scored in the finale, as was Myndee Thompson. Mariah McDonald, Kale Gahn, Ricki Gentry and Aimee Vasquez had two hits each for the Mustangs (16-25, 13-17 RMAC).
Western N.M. jumped out quickly in the first game, using a six-run second inning to chase FLC starter Kassie Haubert (4-11). McDonald plated a pair with a double, while Stephanie Higgins, Alicia Enriquez and Gentry each drove in runs with singles. Shone scored on an error, as well.
The Skyhawks, meanwhile, couldnt solve the left-handed Shone. Of the 12 outs she got in her four innings of work, Shone (8-12) got nine of the groundball variety. She allowed just two hits. Arriel Smith pitched a scoreless fifth inning for the Mustangs, getting three more outs via the groundout. We were very ahead of the ball because she threw all outside, said Harmon, who paired with Thompson for FLCs two hits. So we were all just ahead of it.Tessa Fanning was 2-for-3 with two runs scored and a home run for Western N.M., while Higgins was 3-for-4 with an RBI. McDonald drove in three runs and went 2-for-3 as the Mustangs racked up 12 hits.
The splits in both doubleheaders this weekend kept Western N.M. in the critical No. 8 spot in the RMAC standings, the final spot that qualifies for the RMAC Tournament. FLC, the defending tournament champion, sits ninth, but the Skyhawks have made a charge of late, winning six of their last eight games. Four-game sets with last-place Black Hills State and fifth-place Colorado Christian remain on the schedule.
We honestly all got together. We said what we had to say, got everything out on the table, and we just came together as a team finally, Harmon said.
rowens@durangoherald.com
