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Fort Lewis College Athletics

Scoreboard

Ashley Reeves
David Wilson, FLC Athletics
FLC head coach Ashley Reeves talks to junior McKenna Hefley, who was 2-for-2 with two RBI in Sunday's loss to TAMKU.
4
Fort Lewis College FLCSB 3-7
12
Winner Texas A&M Kingsville TAMUK 11-4
Fort Lewis College FLCSB
3-7
4
Final
12
Texas A&M Kingsville TAMUK
11-4
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 R H E
Fort Lewis College FLCSB 2 1 0 0 1 4 10 2
Texas A&M Kingsville TAMUK 0 0 3 4 5 12 12 1

W: Saidi Castillo (6-1) L: Leavell, Brianna (2-2)

Game Recap: Softball | | David Wilson, Assistant AD-Communications

Skyhawks jump out to early lead, but unable to hold off No. 2 ranked Texas A&M Kingsville

TUCSON, Arizona — The Fort Lewis College softball team was unable to sustain a fast start Sunday in its matchup against No. 2 ranked Texas A&M Kingsville, falling by a 12-4 final on the final day of the Cactus Classic.

Fort Lewis (3-7 overall) held an early 3-0 lead through the game's first two innings, but two key errors on defense and a potent TAMKU (11-4 overall) lineup flipped the script in the middle innings.

"I was really proud of the girls for coming out and scoring three runs early and it was great being able to jump out early," said Fort Lewis head coach, Ashley Reeves. "But defensively, we fell apart a little bit and especially with a team like that, you can't give them extra outs. They took advantage and jumped on us (in the fourth), then slammed the door. We competed well, but we want to do more than just compete. We want to beat teams like that and hopefully today proved to the girls that they can compete with good teams."

The Skyhawks built their lead with a two-run first inning, marking the third straight game the FLC offense scored in the opening frame.  Junior infielder McKenna Hefley launched a RBI double to the left-center gap to score her twin sister Kylie Hefley, and then crossed the plate on a RBI single off the bat of junior Pilar Gutierrez.

In the second inning, senior Cassie Sloan led off with a single, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. and then trotted home when McKenna Hefley doubled for the second time in as many at-bats; this time to the right-center field gap.

"McKenna has done a great job. We put her in the three-hole and she stepped up," Reeves said. "It was nice we were able to have runners on base in front of her because that's what you want your three-hole hitter to do."

Freshman pitcher and designated hitter Brianna Leavell added a RBI double in the top of the fifth to drive in the Skyhawks' four run. They finished the day with 10 hits and four earned runs off of Texas A&M-Kingsville pitcher Saidi Castillo, who entered the game 5-1 overall with a 0.81 earned run average.

The Javelinas made their charge back, though, behind a three-run third inning, tying the game at 3-3, before surging ahead with four runs in the fourth and five runs in the fifth. Six of the nine runs were unearned.

"We came out swinging. Tens hits against a pitcher like her is awesome on our part," Reeves said. "We just have to improve defensively. If we play solid defense, we're in a position to win the game."

Freshman utility player Sloan Shotton was 2-for-3, while senior Taylor Hollestelle and Kylie Hefley each added base hits and had a run scored to help pace the FLC lineup.

In the circle, junior pitcher Kassidy Trumbo got the start and was able to keep TAMKU off-balance the first time through the order. She limited the Javelinas to three runs on five hits and no walks allowed in her 2.1 innings of work.

Fort Lewis will now return home and prepare for RMAC action, which is currently scheduled to start next Saturday and Sunday, weather permitting, with a four-game road series against Black Hills State University.

"I know our record right now doesn't show it, we went 1-4 this weekend, but we played some top teams in the nation and competed with them and played well," Reeves said. "I'm excited for conference to start. Stats and records start over. It'll be a fresh start and we're excited for it."
 
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