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CORPUS CHRISTI — Sophomore Molly Fichtner went 3-for-4 with a pair of RBIs in a 6-1 victory at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi before the Islanders rebounded for a 2-1 decision to split Wednesday's Southland Conference-opening series at Chapman Field.
Fichtner had four hits in the two games to lead the Roadrunners (9-11, 1-1 SLC), who snapped a four-game losing streak to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Junior Haylee Staton aided the opening victory with two RBIs to go along with her seventh consecutive complete-game effort in the circle.
Jordan Trujillo allowed just one hit through the first five innings of the opener for the Islanders (5-11, 1-1 SLC) before UTSA put up four runs in the top of the sixth, thanks to timely hitting and a pair of errors.
Senior Nikki Goff started the frame with an infield double that was aided by a strong wind blowing in. What looked to be a routine fly ball to the outfield ended up falling in front of shortstop Hayley Galloway and Goff easily made it to second. Freshman Geena Garcia then laid down a sacrifice bunt, but she ended up on third after a pair of throwing errors.
Catcher Mickayla Heller’s throw to first was wide and the throw from right fielder Stephanie Vead ended up rolling to the UTSA dugout and the Roadrunners led, 1-0.
Senior Ashley Kappler made it 2-0 with a sacrifice fly to center and the rally continued with back-to-back hits from Fichtner and freshman Megan Low. After a pop up that would have ended the inning, Staton helped her own cause with a two-run double down left-field line for a 4-0 advantage.
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi got a run back in the bottom half of the frame, but UTSA put the game away in the seventh on Fichtner’s double to right that plated a pair.
Staton (6-1) allowed four hits and the one unearned run in addition to four strikeouts. The victory matched her win total from all of last season.
The Roadrunners kept the momentum going early in game two and took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second.
Staton singled to lead off the frame and moved to second on an illegal pitch by Islanders starter Vianca Pesina. The Austin native then came around to score after a sacrifice bunt and single up the middle by freshman Courtney Buchman, who recorded a hit in both games to extended her hitting streak to seven games.
With Staton again in the circle the lead stood until the bottom of the fifth when Texas A&M-Corpus Christi plated a pair for its first lead of the day.
Sandy Schumann led off the stanza with a bunt single and came around to score on Hannah Schwarz’ bunt two batters later. Cassie Redman scored the winning run on Cassie Carroll’s sacrifice fly to right later in the inning.
UTSA had a chance to tie it in the seventh with a runner in scoring position with one out, but Pesina retired the side and improved to 1-4 on the season. She allowed five hits and struck out three, while Staton fell to 6-2 after giving up two runs in her 4.1 innings.
The Roadrunners continue Southland play this weekend when they host Central Arkansas (18-8, 0-0 SLC). The two-game set gets underway at 6 p.m. on Friday, while Saturday's 2 p.m. finale will be Military Appreciation Day and those with a military I.D. will be admitted for free.