| Feb. 18, 2005
Contact: Kyle Stephens (210) 458-4907 UTSA downs Colorado State, Loyola-Chicago at day one of Troy Cox Classic UTSA 10, Loyola-Chicago 0 | UTSA 7, Colorado State 6
LAS CRUCES, N.M. - Junior Jenny Garcia singled home sophomore Catherine Garza with the winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning to lead UTSA past Colorado State, 7-6, Friday at the Troy Cox Classic. In the first game of the day, the Roadrunners pounded Loyola-Chicago, 10-0, behind three-hit performances from Garcia and junior Jessica Rogers.
With the two victories, UTSA improves to 6-5 overall and 2-0 in the tournament. Loyola falls to 0-1 and Colorado State to 4-4.
With the score tied at 6-6 in the bottom of the seventh, junior Jessica Els drew a leadoff walk and was replaced by pinch-runner Catherine Garza. A groundout moved her to second and a single by sophomore Stevi Simpson advanced her to third, where she scored on a two-out single up the middle by Garcia, who finished the day five-for-seven in the two contests.
The Rams jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first on a two-run home run by Kerry Farrell. UTSA answered with a four-run first. A leadoff double by senior Krystal Gibson, a one-out single by senior Jennifer Davis and a walk to sophomore Aimee Murray set the table for a bases-loaded walk by Els. Junior Mel Torres followed with a single up the middle, plating Murray and Davis and putting Els on second. Els then moved to third on a walk and scored on a wild pitch to put the Roadrunners up, 4-2.
CSU cut the deficit in half on a solo homer by Stephanie Roberts in the top of the third and knotted the score at 4-4 in the fourth on an RBI-single by Genevieve Kelly.
UTSA grabbed the lead right back in its half of the fourth on a perfectly-executed suicide squeeze bunt by Davis that scored Garcia.
The Rams returned the favor in the fifth, taking a 6-5 lead on a two-run blast by Julia Kloppe.
In the 10-0 win over Loyola, the Roadrunners struck for five runs in the top of the first. Back-to-back singles by Rogers and Davis and a walk to Murray loaded the bases. Els then drew a walk to force in the first run and Torres plated the second run on a sacrifice fly to center. Two more runs crossed thanks to an error on the infield and a wild pitch before Garcia singled to right to score Simpson, putting UTSA up, 5-0.
Rogers slugged a solo home run to right center, her sixth long ball of the season, to extend the lead to 6-0 in the top of the second.
A three-run third made it 9-0 Roadrunners. Torres drew a leadoff walk and advanced to third on a single by Simpson and an error. An infield single by Garcia plated Torres, while Rogers drove in two more with a two-out single to left.
A solo home run by junior Stacey Gillespie in the top of the fifth provided the final 10-0 tally.
Freshman Amanda Nikolenko struck out six over three innings to improve to 3-3 on the year. Junior Hope Ortiz tossed two scoreless innings in relief. Rogers and Garcia both collected three hits, while Davis added two.
UTSA faces No. 18-ranked Nebraska on Saturday at 10 a.m. and New Mexico State at noon.
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