| April 4, 2006
Contact: Kyle Stephens (210) 458-4551 Timely hitting leads UTSA to sweep of Houston Game 1 Box Score | Game 2 Box Score
SAN ANTONIO – Senior Amanda Horton (right) and sophomore Brittany Cantu each blasted game winning home runs to help lead the UTSA softball team to a 3-2, 6-3 sweep of Houston Tuesday afternoon at Roadrunner Field.
With the two victories, the Roadrunners snap a three-game losing streak and improve to 18-11 on the season and 10-3 at home. The Cougars of Conference USA fall to 25-16.
Horton and Cantu slugged two of four long balls for UTSA on the day, pushing the season total to 61 in 29 games (2.10 per game). Horton had the difference-maker in game one, while Cantu’s three-run, walk-off blast decided game two in the bottom of the eighth inning. Senior Stacey Gillespie and junior Aimee Murray also homered for the Roadrunners.
The one-two pitching punch of junior Ursula Mares and sophomore Amanda Nikolenko combined for 10 strikeouts and allowed just five runs in 15 innings of work.
In game one, Houston struck first with a run in the top of the third inning. A leadoff walk to Jaci Gonzalez and back-to-back bunt singles by Jessica Valis and Katie Bush loaded the bases with no outs. Elaina Nordstrom drove in Gonzalez with a sacrifice fly to left field, but Mares and the UTSA defense got out of the jam with a strikeout and a pop up.
In the fourth, Laura Durham added a solo home run that barely cleared the fence in left center to make it 2-0 Cougars.
Meanwhile, the Roadrunners could muster only one hit – a single to right center by Gillespie in the third – through their first four at-bats against starter Candi Kloecker.
UTSA finally broke through for three runs on four hits in the bottom of the fifth. Freshman Leanne Risberg got things going with a double to left center, but was erased on a rundown between second and third after line drive ground ball back to the pitcher off the bat of senior Mel Torres. Torres moved all the way to second on the play, advanced to third on a fly ball and scored on a double to left center by Murray. Horton followed with her 10th home run of the year, a line drive shot off the scoreboard in left field to put UTSA up, 3-2.
Mares and UTSA stranded a leadoff double in the sixth and left the tying run at second in the seventh to hold on for the victory.
Mares struck out seven batters and allowed two runs on seven hits in running her record to 5-6. Kloecker gave up three runs on four hits in falling to 8-8.
In the second game, the Cougars again scored first on a close play down the third base line in the top of the third. With runners at first and third and two down, Bush drilled a hard grounder right at the third baseman Cantu, who fielded the ball cleanly on the line and reached to tag the runner going home. With no out call, she was forced to throw home on a close call at the plate that gave Houston a 1-0 lead.
Gillespie quickly tied the game at 1-1 with a line drive home run to right center to start the bottom of the third. Senior Jessica Els kept the inning alive with a two-out, pop-up single to short center and Murray followed with a towering blast over the scoreboard in left center to put UTSA up, 3-1.
The Cougars picked up a run in the fifth on three hits. With the bases loaded and one out, Haley Valis plated Jamie Adams with a sac fly to center, but Nikolenko was able to get out of the jam with a pop up to the shortstop.
Houston forced extra innings with a run in the top of the seventh. Gonzalez led off with a worm-burner double to right center, moved to third on a sac bunt and scored on a ground ball off the bat of Nordstrom between third and short.
Nikolenko fought through a pair of walks in the top of the eighth, stranding two with a line out and a ground out.
That set the stage for Cantu’s heroics in the bottom of the frame. Els reached on an infield single and pinch-runner Catherine Garza moved to second on a walk to Murray. Horton sacrificed both runners over with a perfect bunt in front of the pitcher and Cantu (left) drilled a long home run to left field, her team-leading 11th of the season, to end the game, 6-3.
Nikolenko moved to 11-5 on the season, striking out three and scattering nine hits in eight complete innings. Barbie Love gave up three runs on four hits in falling to 0-1.
The Roadrunners hit the road for a key Southland Conference series at Sam Houston State this Saturday-Sunday, April 8-9.
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