Las Cruces, NM -?? Thanks to a Chris Jimenez eighth inning two-run homerun over the right field fence, the Utah Valley State softball team split its first two games of the Troy Cox Invitational. The Wolverines beat George Mason 5-4 in eight innings and lost to Texas State 11-2 in five innings.
-??That was a bomb,-?? Utah Valley State coach Todd Fairbourne said on Jimenez-??s homerun. -??I told Chris to pick the pitch she wanted and to drive it. Chris came up big. We stole that game from George Mason.-??
Jackie Roberts was stellar on the mound, striking out 11 and scattering seven hits in the win.
-??She pitched well,-?? Fairbourne said. -??We needed it because she wasn-??t getting a lot of support.-??
Rachel Hargrove had a homerun against Texas State. Fairbourne also said he was pleased with the play of freshman Kaylie Neal.
Neal entered the game in the middle of game one and played the rest of the day.
-??She made the most of her opportunity,-?? Fairbourne said. -??She made a great diving catch in left field and came up with a nice hit. I was real proud of her.-??
In the two games Utah Valley State was only able to muster five hits.
Two of the hits came in the extra inning win. The first five innings against George Mason were filled with mistakes.
The Wolverines led 3-1 after the top of the third inning. All three runs came on George Mason errors.
Utah Valley jumped out to a 1-0 lead in second inning thanks to two errors by George Mason. With two outs, Natalie Paulsen walked and Emily Zupan reached on error by the second baseman. The runners then advanced a base on a wild pitch by George Mason pitcher Arielle Weinkofsky.
Kaeleigh Forsyth then reached base on another error allowing Paulsen to score from third.
In the third inning,Cari Hamilton reached base on a walk, stole second and advanced to third on an error by the catcher. She then scored on a wild pitch to up the lead to 2-0.
In the bottom half of the inning George Mason scored its first run to make the score 2-1. The run was set up due to an error the Wolverine defense.
Sara Roskelley scored Utah Valley-??s third run in the fourth inning. She walked to open the inning and then stole second. She advanced to third on a ground out by Emily Zupan and scored when Forsyth was caught stealing second after she was hit by a pitch.
George Mason tied the game in the bottom half of the inning by scoring two runs. The score remain tied until Jimenez hit her homerun in the eighth inning. Freshman Heidi Boyer had Utah Valley-??s only other hit in the sixth inning.
Against Texas State, Utah Valley jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning off a homerun by Hartgrove. Texas State countered with three runs in the second. UV added a run in the bottom half of the second but then gave up eight runs in the third inning.
Texas State scored its 11 runs on 13 hits.
-??They are a very good hitting team,-?? Fairbourne said. -??Overall we did not play well in either game. The Texas State game showed that we have to learn to play at another level.
Utah Valley State plays Morehead State on Saturday at 7 p.m. in the second day of the Troy Cox Invitational.
