LAS VEGAS – Splitting their second doubleheader of the season, University of Sioux Falls Softball dropped their first game on Saturday, 8-5, to Texas Woman's University, before defeating Concordia-Irvine, 5-4, in the second game. The Cougars push their record to 2-2 in the first week of the season, and they finish their trip to the Desert Stinger with a 1:30 p.m. game against West Texas A&M on Sunday.
Texas Women's University 8, Sioux Falls 5
After giving up a homerun in the first inning, Hoshaw would return the favor, but not before the Cougars took back the lead in the third inning.
Britni Broussard was hit by a pitch and she stole second in the next at-bat.
Brianna Painter joined her on the basepaths with a walk and she advanced to second on
Emma Schifferle's fielder's choice. After wild pitch moved both runners into scoring position, Painter would do just that, using a sacrifice fly by
Emily Hove to tie the game. In the next at-bat,
Sydney Nieveen drove in Schifferle with a single to left, setting up Hoshaw. On the first pitch of her at-bat, Hoshaw connected on her first homerun of the season, scoring Nieveen and giving the Cougars a 4-1 lead.
Texas Women's University would score in the bottom half to draw within two runs, but USF would answer right back in the top of the fourth. With two outs, Painter started the rally with a double to right centerfield then proceeded to steal third. Schifferle managed to score her teammate, forcing the TWU third baseman into an error for a 5-2 Cougar edge. Hoshaw blanked the Pioneers in the fourth inning, but USF was held scoreless in the top of the fifth.
Capitalizing on an error, TWU loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the fifth and managed to tie the game with three runs, two of which were unearned, on three hits. With an outfield assist, Francesca Mickleson connected with Schifferle on a throw from right field to stop a Pioneer runner at the plate and keep TWU to three runs.
The Pioneers then added three more insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth, giving them an 8-5 lead entering the seventh. The Cougars went down in order in their final at-bat, suffering their second straight loss.
Sioux Falls 5, Concordia-Irvine 4
After building an early lead, University of Sioux Falls Softball held on to split their second doubleheader of the opening trip to Las Vegas, defeating Concordia-Irvine, 5-4, on Saturday night. The Cougars improve to 2-2 on the season, as
Courtney Mathews earned her first career win with USF as
Emma Schifferle logged two more hits and
Brianna Painter provided two of USF's five RBI.
The scoreless tie was broken open by the Cougars in the top of the second.
Brittany Hoffmann worked a one-out walk and
Britni Broussard followed one batter later by reaching on an error. Taking advantage of the error, Painter tripled to left field, driving in both runs. Schifferle added the final run with a single to third base, scoring Painter to give USF a 3-0 lead.
Mathews allowed one hit and she would scatter just three over the first five innings of the game, allowing the Cougars to push their lead over the next two innings. Francesca Mickleson started the third inning with a one-out double and Hoffmann worked another walk. Mickleson moved up to third on a wild pitch and
Megan Peterson drove her in with an RBI groundout.
With a four-run advantage, the Cougars tacked on another in the top of the fourth. Schifferle opened the inning by reaching on an error and
Sydney Nieveen was hit by a pitch. Loading the bases,
Ashley Meyer reached on a pinch-hit error. Mickleson drove in the final Cougar run with a sacrifice fly to centerfield, scoring Schifferle from third to push the USF lead to 5-0.
Concordia-Irvine opened the sixth inning with a solo homerun and they would log three more hits to score three more runs, tightening the game to a 5-4 Cougar lead. USF couldn't add cushion in the seventh, but
Kerrigan Hoshaw, who came in to record the final two outs of the sixth inning, allowed one hit in the final frame to secure the 5-4 victory for USF.
