MIDLAND, Texas – The Western Nebraska Community College softball team opened the season at the Midland Classic in Midland, Texas, where the Cougars ran into some hot teams, finishing the tourney with a 1-4 record.
The No. 19 Cougars opened the tournament going 1-2 on Friday and then finished things dropping both games on Saturday.
On Friday, the Cougars defeated El Paso Community College 10-1 before falling 7-1 to Midland College and then 10-3 to Vernon College.
On Saturday, the Cougars fell 8-6 to Clarendon College and then had an offensive explosion against No. 16 Odessa College17-9.
WNCC finished with 24 hits and four home runs on the final day of the tournament.
The Odessa contest was an epic contest between two squads. The Cougars finished with xx hits while Odessa had 20 hits. The Cougars also blasted three home runs, including a solo shot by Bianca Duran and then a 2-run shot by Mariah Shepherd in the third inning. Mariah Faifer also had a run-scoring triple in the third cut the deficit to 7-5.
Odessa later went up 8-5 before the Cougars tied the contest at 8-8 with three runs in the fourth. Danielle Hearn had the big blast, a 2-run home run. Odessa came back in the fifth, plating seven runs on nine hits to take a 15-8 lead.
The Cougars had four players who had multiple hits in the contest. Duran led the way with a 3-for-4 game with two RBIs, two runs scored, a home run and double. Hearn also went 2-or-3 with two runs scored, two RBIs, a double and a home run, while Stubbs went 3-for-4 with two runs scored. Faifer also went 2-for-3 with a triple and two RBIs.
Duran took the loss in the circle, giving up 17 runs on 23 hits.
In the other game on Saturday, WNCC outhit Clarendon in the first game of the day 12-11, but the defense committed seven errors in the loss.
Stubbs continued to sparkle, going 3-for-4 with two RBIs, including a double and a home run. Gabi Palacios also had a nice game, finishing 3-for-5 with two RBIs. Also ripping doubles for the Cougars were Hearn, Shepherd and Bitton.
Amanda Jones took the loss in the circle, going all six innings in allowing 11 hits and striking out two.
Friday’s action saw the Cougars struggle offensively and defensively after the season-opening win against El Paso. In the win, WNCC rolled over El Paso with a six-run rally in the fourth inning. Jocelyn Stubbs racked up three RBIs on two hits for WNCC, including a double in the first inning and a 2-run home run in the fourth inning.
Duran gave El Paso fits in the circle. EPCC managed just two hits off of Duran, who allowed no earned runs, walked none and struck out two during her four innings of work.
The Cougars also ran wild on the base paths, finishing with six steals. Duran, Palacios, Aria Agle, and Kayla Romey each had one, while Faifer had two stolen bases.
WNCC pounded out seven hits in the season-opener. Shepherd also finished with two hits, going 2-for-4 with two RBIs. The only other extra base hit came from Faifer with a double in the fifth.
In the loss against Midland, WNCC struck first off a second-inning home run by Agle. Midland came back, belting back-to-back home runs in the third and then added three more runs in the fourth for the win.
WNCC committed five errors in the contest and managed just four hits.
Duran picked up the loss, going three innings in allowing three runs on four hits. Amanda Jones threw the final three innings, allowing four runs on four hits.
WNCC's final game was a contest the Cougars let get away as Vernon pounded out xx hits, including a first-inning grand slam. WNCC tried to come back, cutting the deficit in half in the second inning as Bitton connected on a 2-run home run.
Vernon bounced back with two runs in the third and a single run in the fourth for a 7-3 lead.
The Cougars managed just six hits in the contest as Duran and Shepherd each had doubles and Bitton had a home run.
Jones took the loss in the circle, going just two innings while allowing six runs on 10 hits. Duran finished the game, tossing the final five innings, allowing four runs and six hits.
The big key in the two losses was fielding. In the win against El Paso, the Cougars committed zero errors, while the team had five errors against Midland and three against Vernon.
WNCC will continue the road trip as they have a doubleheader with Frank Phillips College on Sunday.
First Game
WNCC 100 63 – 10 7 1
El Paso 001 00 – 1 2 0
WP – Bianca Duran (1-0); 2B – Jocelyn Stubbs, Mariah Faifer; HR – Stubbs.
Second Game
WNCC 010 000 – 1 4 5
Midland 003 301 – 7 8 0
LP – Duran; HR – Agle.
Third Game
Vernon 402 101 2-- 10 16 0
WNCC 021 000 0 -- 3 6 3
LP -- ; 2B -- Duran, Mariah Shepherd; HR -- Bree Bitton.
Saturday's Games
First Game
WNCC 110 031 0 -- 6 12 1
Clarendon 250 200 x -- 9 11 1
LP -- Jones; 2B -- Hearn, Stubbs, Shepherd, Bitton; HR -- Stubbs.
Second Game
WNCC 104 301 -- 9 12 3
Odessa 341 072 -- 17 23 4
LP -- Duran; 2B -- Palacios, Hearn, Duran; 3B -- Faifer; HR -- Hearn, Duran, Shepherd.
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