Feb. 10, 2012

Final Box Score

Final Box Score

LAS CRUCES, N.M. - The UIC softball team (1-1/0-0 Horizon League) handled Santa Clara (1-2) in a 5-1 outcome Friday at the Hotel Encanto Invitational in Las Cruces, N.M, followed by a 6-4 loss to Indiana (1-0). Despite a seventh-inning rally where the Flames knocked in three runs with a runner in scoring position, senior Kelsey Sturgeon (Ranchos Palos Verdes, Calif./Palos Verdes Peninsula) roped a ball into left field, but Indiana's left fielder with a diving catch at the wall, ended the game with the 6-4 outcome.

"Overall, I saw some good things from our team today," head coach Michelle Venturella said. "It was nice to score in multiple innings against Santa Clara. We also played solid defense behind Ashley (Hewett), who created outs for us. We had different people step up at different times offensively, which is always good to see. We weren't sharp in the first couple of innings against Indiana, but settled in later in the game. We had an exciting seventh inning, but came up just short. We face two more solid teams tomorrow, so we will take what we learned as a team today and build on that."

GAME 1

The contest remained scoreless until the bottom of the third inning when UIC put its first run on the board. The squad then added two more runs in the fifth inning when sophomores Courtney Heeley (Glendale, Ariz./Greenway) and top-of-the-order batter, Natalie Hernandez (Glendora, Calif./Glendora) both made their way across home plate to build the UIC lead to 3-0 moving into the sixth inning.

The Broncos placed a run on the board with a homerun in the top of the sixth, but the effort wasn't enough as senior Ashley Hewett (La Palma, Calif./John F. Kennedy) and junior Melissa Preish (Thousand Oaks, Calif./Westlake) scored to place the score at 5-1, which secured the first Flames victory of the season.

In the game, Hernandez had one hit and two RBI, while juniors Coryn Schmit (Hawthorn Woods, Ill./Lake Zurich) and Teresa Aguilar (Chicago, Ill./Loyola Academy) chipped in two hits apiece.

GAME 2

The Hoosiers entered the contest with the Flames with a quick start as Indiana placed a run on the board in the first inning, while chipping in four more in the second and another in the fifth to place the score at 5-0 to the Hoosiers advantage.

In the top of the sixth inning, Schmit homered to give the Flames their first run of the game. UIC held the Hoosiers scoreless in the bottom of the sixth inning, before the UIC squad entered the final inning of the game on a rally.

In the inning, Preish, junior Melinda Macias (Chino, Calif./Don Antonio Lugo) and Schmit scored to improve the Flames score to 6-4. Sophomore Jacki Fletcher (Lowell, Ind./Lowell) hit a double to be in scoring position as Sturgeon entered the game to pinch hit, where she hit a deep ball to left field, but with a leap by Indiana's left fielder at the wall, the game ended in a 6-4 decision.

The Flames return to action Saturday at 10:00 a.m. (CT) against St. Mary's, followed by UTEP at Noon as the squad continues the Hotel Encanto Invitational in Las Cruces, N.M.