· Rutgers box score
· Arkansas box score
COLLEGE STATION -- Junior Amanda Nikolenko tossed the eighth no-hitter in school history and senior Jessica Rogers went 3-for-4 with five runs batted in to lead UTSA to a 10-0 victory over Rutgers in the first game of the Aggie Classic Friday morning at the Aggie Softball Complex. Katy Henry tossed a complete-game five-hitter to lead Arkansas past the Roadrunners, 8-0, in the second game Friday afternoon.
Nikolenko was brilliant in game one, striking out five and allowing just three baserunners on two walks and a hit batter as UTSA moved to 2-4 on the season. It marked her first no-hitter in a UTSA uniform and the first by a Roadrunner since Ursula Mares blanked Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on April 19, 2006.
Rogers led a strong performance by the Roadrunners at the plate as her three hits included a rare two-RBI infield single and her second home run of the season. Sophomore Leanne Risberg and freshmen Kelly Cato, Rudi Cantu and Krista Sitka all recorded two hits apiece as UTSA pounded out 14 off a pair of Scarlet Knights pitchers.
UTSA wasted little time building a comfortable lead for Nikolenko, scoring seven runs in the first three innings. Sitka singled home Rogers with a ground ball through the left side of the infield in the top of the first to put the Roadrunners on the board.
An infield single by Cantu plated Cato, who singled to right center, and a Risberg double down the left field line scored senior Catherine Garza, who reached on an error. Senior Aimee Murray then singled through the left side to score Cantu, putting UTSA up 4-0.
The Roadrunners tacked on three more in the third on a pair of unusual scoring plays. Sitka doubled and scored on a bases-loaded fielder’s choice to center field off the bat of Cantu that resulted in a force play at second base. A walk to Risberg loaded the bases for Rogers, whose infield single plated Cantu from third and Cato all the way from second as Rutgers failed to cover home on the play.
A three-run blast over the left field fence by Rogers made it 10-0 in the fifth.
In UTSA’s second game of the day, Rogers added two more hits, but UTSA could only muster five against Henry as Arkansas blanked the Roadrunners, 8-0. Henry struck out 15 and walked just two in a complete-game shutout.
The Lady Backs put up a three-spot in the top of the second inning and never looked back, scoring eight runs on 12 hits, including a double by Jessica Bachkora and a home run by Dayna Huckabee.
Nikolenko took the loss for UTSA, allowing six runs — five earned — on eight hits and striking out six as her record dropped to 1-5.
The Roadrunners, now 2-5 on the season, face Arkansas again at 10 a.m. on Saturday, and Rutgers at 12:15 p.m.
