| April 10, 2005
Contact: Kyle Stephens (210) 458-4907 Roadrunners complete sweep of Nicholls State, stay in first-place tie in conference standings Box Score
SAN ANTONIO - Junior Stacey Gillespie hit two home runs and drove in five runs to lead a 16-hit barrage as the UTSA softball team completed a three-game sweep of Nicholls State with a 17-4 run-ruling Sunday afternoon at Roadrunner Field.
With the win, the Roadrunners move to 30-15 overall and 13-4 in the Southland Conference. They remain tied for first place in the conference standings with Sam Houston State, a 2-0 winner over Southeastern Louisiana Sunday. The Lady Colonels fall to 13-27 and 8-13.
UTSA exploded for 14 runs in the third and fourth innings to break open a 3-3 game and pick up its seventh straight conference victory in posting a season-high 17 runs. The Roadrunners now have won 24 of their past 25 home games and 26 of their last 31 league contests dating back to the 2004 season.
For the weekend, UTSA outscored Nicholls State, 36-9, and now has averaged 9.4 runs over the last 10 conference games. The Roadrunners tacked on five more home runs Sunday to improve their NCAA-leading home run tally to 81 in 45 games (1.80 per game).
Gillespie led the long ball attack with two home runs, while junior Jessica Rogers hit her league-leading 17th in going 2-for-4 with two RBI. Juniors Mel Torres and Amanda Horton also cleared the fence for UTSA as they went 2-for-4 with 3 RBI and 2-for-3 with two RBI, respectively. Sophomore Aimee Murray led all hitters with three hits, including her ninth double of the season.
The Lady Colonels jumped on the board first on a solo home run to left by Brandi Hahn, but UTSA answered with three runs in the bottom of the frame. Senior Jennifer Davis led off with her sixth double of the year, advanced to third on a groundout and scored on a wild pitch to knot the score at 1-1. Following a walk to senior Jessica Ellison, Gillespie sent her first of two homers over the center field fence to put the Roadrunners up, 3-1.
Nicholls State tied things up in the top of the third as Andrea Ground knocked a two-run home run to right field.
UTSA then broke the game open with a seven-run third that included three home runs. Rogers got the first one, a two-run blast to right center that plated Torres who reached on a single. Ellison then singled home Murray, who reached on a single, while Gillespie slugged her second long ball, a three-run shot off the hitting facility in left field that scored junior Jessica Els, who reached on a bunt single, and senior pinch-runner J.J. McQueen.
Gillespie’s shot chased Nicholls starting pitching Ally May, but Horton sent reliever Jessica Barksdale’s first offering to the top of the hitting shed in left for her first home run of the season.
The Lady Colonels made it 10-4 on Lindsay Coleman’s solo homer to left in the top of the fourth, but the Roadrunners posted seven more runs in their half of the fourth for a 17-4 advantage. Els and Horton had one-run singles and senior Krystal Gibson followed with a two-run single before Torres launched her ninth home run of the season, a three-run shot to center.
Sophomore Ursula Mares picked up her second win of the series and fourth straight overall to improve to 15-6. She struck out three and allowed four runs on four hits in her 16th complete game of the year. May gave up nine runs on eight hits in falling to 1-6.
The Roadrunners return to action next Thursday, April 14, when they travel to Ruston, La., for a doubleheader with Louisiana Tech.
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