LUBBOCK, Texas – The Fort Lewis College softball team opened the season on Friday with a pair of tough opponents, falling to Eastern New Mexico University and No. 4 West Texas A&M University by scores to 7-0 and 4-0, respectively.
Game One: Fort Lewis 0, Eastern New Mexico 7
The pace of play was quick throughout the first two frames with the teams combining for six runners left on base. ENMU struck in the top of the third, barreling up four-straight singles to go up 2-0. The Greyhounds added another run off a fielding error to see a 3-0 lead which would carry into the sixth inning. ENMU managed to double the lead when a towering fly ball was carried waywardly by the wind, causing an error in right field for a 6-0 score.
Freshman
Alex Tenorio broke up the no-hitter in the bottom of the sixth with a single to right field, eventually advancing to third on a steal and throwing error, but the infielder was stranded after a trio of strikeouts ended the inning. The Skyhawks kept the Greyhounds off the board in the final inning, but the offense couldn't muster a comeback, resulting in a 7-0 final score.
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Game Two: Fort Lewis 0, No. 4 West Texas A&M 4
The Skyhawks faced a tall task in the second game of the day, taking on the defending NCAA Division II National Champions, West Texas A&M. The Lady Buffs built a quick 2-0 lead in the first inning, benefitting from timely hitting and aggressive baserunning. West Texas added another run in the third inning before a sprawling catch in right field sent the teams into the fourth inning. Despite the defensive efforts, the Fort Lewis bats remained cold with two groundouts to third base and a strikeout sending things into the bottom of the fourth. West Texas tacked on another run in the bottom of the inning before a baserunner was caught stealing to close it out.
Fort Lewis started to find its groove in the fifth inning, starting with a powerful groundball up the middle from freshman
Tatum Caldwell. Junior
Katie Pippel added a single of her own moments later to place runners on first and second, but a deep flyout to centerfield and a strikeout eliminated the threat. Despite finding a runner on base in the seventh inning, the Lady Buffs closed it out with a cleanly-fielded grounder to third, ending the game in a 4-0 final score.
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Comments from Coach
"I thought our younger players played well and adjusted throughout the day," said head coach
Dwight Sanders. "You can tell they were nervous, but they made some plays for us today that were critical to getting out of tough spots. Offensively, Alex showed us she is tough and can put some pressure on defense when she gets on base. We saw some bad today but also saw a lot of good from our young team."
Up Next
Fort Lewis (0-2) will have a quick turnaround as the team is set to play Oklahoma Baptist University (3-3) for a 9:00 a.m. start tomorrow. The Skyhawks will follow that up with a 1:00 p.m. slate versus Lubbock Christian University (5-2) to wrap up the Lubbock Sports College Invitational.
