| April 30, 2005
Contact: Kyle Stephens (210) 458-4907 Els, Horton, Nikolenko lead UTSA to doubleheader sweep of Sam Houston State; Roadrunners move into sole possession of first place and clinch No. 1 seed for SLC Tournament Game 1 Box Score | Game 2 Box Score
SAN ANTONIO – Juniors Jessica Els and Amanda Horton each had two-homer games and freshman pitcher Amanda Nikolenko hurled a complete-game shutout to lead the UTSA softball team to a doubleheader sweep of Sam Houston State, 3-2 and 3-0, Saturday afternoon before a season-high 327 fans at Roadrunner Field.
With the two victories, the Roadrunners improve to 39-16 overall and 20-5 in the Southland Conference. UTSA clinches at least a share of the its second straight regular season crown and the No. 1 seed for the SLC Tournament next weekend in Hammond, La. The Bearkats fall to 26-22 and 19-6 and will be the No. 2 seed.
Els and Horton hit four of five UTSA home runs on the afternoon, pushing its NCAA-leading total to 99, two shy of the conference record of 101 set last year. The Roadrunners also matched the school record for victories in a season with 39 (39-21-1 in 2000). Senior Krystal Gibson broke the UTSA career record for putouts in the opening game and now has 1,182 for her career.
UTSA jumped on the board first in the bottom of the fourth in game one on a solo home run to center field by Els. Sam Houston broke up sophomore Ursula Mares’ no-hit bid in the fifth on a single by Kara Reeves and rallied to take a 2-1 in the top of the sixth. Lauren Boone led off the frame with a triple down the right field line and scored on a one-out center to right center by Chrissy Dileo. A.J. McAvoy followed an Erin Lindsey single with a double to the gap in left center that plated Dileo with the go-ahead run.
The Roadrunners answered the call in the bottom of the frame, touching up reliever Melissa Collins for two runs on three hits in two-thirds of an inning. Sophomore Aimee Murray slugged a one-out home run to left center to tie the score and Els broke the tie with a line drive shot to left center that put UTSA up for good, 3-2.
Mares stranded Boone, who singled with two outs, at first in the top of the seventh en route to running her record to 19-7 on the season. She struck out six batters and allowed two runs on five hits in her 18th complete game of the year.
Nikolenko was the story of game two, out-dueling Collins, who entered the series with a 9-2 record and 1.36 earned run average in conference play. The Ashland, Mo., native struck out eight batters and scattered five hits in tossing her fourth shutout of the season. She improves to 16-8 overall and 7-2 in the league.
Horton broke a scoreless tie with a huge solo shot in the bottom of the fourth to stake UTSA to a 1-0 lead. The West, Texas, native added her second moon shot in the sixth to push the lead to 2-0. The Roadrunners tacked on another run on a two-out single to left center by junior Mel Torres that scored junior Jenny Garcia, who reached on a fielder’s choice.
Collins allowed three runs on eight hits and struck out just three batters in five and two-thirds. She falls to 12-12 with the two losses today.
UTSA can win the conference title outright with a win in game three on Sunday at 1 p.m.
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