WNCC coach Maria Winn-Ratliff said her team faced a determined Bear team that shut down the Cougars' offense. WNCC managed just five hits and struck out 22 times.
"You have to give Northern Colorado a ton of credit. They made adjustments at the plate. I thought Kelsey {Garner] threw well the first game - well enough to win a ball game - but offensively when you scamper out two hits, it is hard to win ball games," she said. "We had some great adjustments in game two. Ashley [Patton] came in and shut them down for two innings, and then they scored four times in the third."
Tuesday's games were a good learning experience for WNCC, which will be involved in some important conference games this weekend, beginning with a home doubleheader with North Platte Community College on Thursday, followed by contests with Trinidad State and Otero Junior College on Saturday and Sunday.
"The streak is over, and I think that is a good thing. We kind of got some reality back into our lives that we are not invincible," Winn-Ratliff said. "We have to play better. We have six conference games coming up this weekend. We have to find a way to help our pitchers out by producing runs."
WNCC did, however, stay with the Division I varsity team in both games, but it was two bad innings in each game that took the wind out of the Cougars' sails.
In the first game, Kelsey Garner threw an excellent game despite taking the loss. The freshman scattered six hits, walked two and struck out six. The difference in the game was a four-run fourth inning that put UNC up 5-0.
In the meantime, WNCC managed just three hits in the contests. The Cougars' best chance to break the ice was when Amanda Hensley led off the fourth with a double but was stranded at third.
The second game started better for the Cougars as they got on the scoreboard first. Lauren Bourdon earned a walk and was moved over as Natasha Dypchey recorded a bunt single. Bourdon later scored on a Mandy Pounds groundout for a 1-0 lead.
UNC came back with four runs in the third and single runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings to claim the 7-1 win. The Bears had a chance to add more runs in the third, but the Cougars' Lauryn Smith laid out for a diving catch in centerfield and proceeded to double off the runner at second base for the third out of the inning.
Ashley Patton took the loss in the second game, pitching 2 2/3 innings while striking out two.
Offensively, the Cougars managed just two hits in game two - by Dypchey in the third and Amanda Torimaru in the seventh.
WNCC (32-6) will have little time to think about the losses as it has home contests this weekend. Winn-Ratliff said they need to find a way to score runs.
"We have to find ways to produce runs," she said. "We are striking extremely too much. I think they learned a little bit, and this game showed what level you need to be at to play. We have three young ladies {Ryman, Hensley and Jessie McNabb] that have committed to come here next year, so it was nice for them to see an up and coming team."
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First Game
WNCC 000 000 0 - 0 3 2
UNC 100 400 x - 5 6 1
LP - Garner; 2B - Hensley, Lauren Mills.
Second Game
WNCC 010 000 0 - 1 2 0
UNC 004 111 0 - 7 9 0
LP - Patton.
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