? Game 1 box score
? Game 2 box score
| Freshman Krista Sitka hit two homers on Saturday. |
LAKE CHARLES, La. ? Freshman Krista Sitka led a six-home run barrage with a pair of round-trippers as UTSA pounded McNeese State, 15-2, in game one of a Southland Conference doubleheader on Saturday afternoon at Cowgirl Diamond. McNeese won game two in the bottom of the seventh, 3-2.
With the win in game one, the Roadrunners secured a spot in their fourth straight SLC Tournament. The defending champions will face a six-team field next Thursday-Saturday in Huntsville. UTSA now stands 26-28 overall and 18-11 in the league after the split. The Cowgirls kept their postseason hopes alive and now are 29-30 and 15-11.
Sitka was 4-for-5 with two homers and five runs batted in as UTSA pounded McNeese pitching for 15 runs on 13 hits in the opener. Seniors Aimee Murray and Catherine Garza, sophomore Leanne Risberg and freshman Cassie Miller also went yard in a season-high output for the Roadrunners.
UTSA took a 4-0 lead in the top of the first on an RBI single by senior Jessica Rogers and a three-run blast by Garza. The Roadrunners added to their lead with a solo shot by Risberg in the third and a three-run shot by Sitka in the fourth. UTSA added three more blasts in the seventh to blow the game open.
Junior Amanda Nikolenko (14-16) picked up the win, allowing two runs on eight hits and striking out five. Jana Jones was roughed up for 11 runs on 10 hits in the loss.
The Roadrunners added two more home runs to their season total ? which now stands at 68 ? in game two, but McNeese State rallied from a 2-1 deficit with a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh to earn the split.
Megan Beard broke up a scoreless game with a solo homer in the bottom of the fourth, but UTSA answered on back-to-back blasts by Rogers, her 17th, and Murray, her 15th, in the top of the fifth.
In their final at-bat, the Cowgirls put runners on second and third with one down and both runners came home on an error by the UTSA pitcher off the bat of Liz Morvant to end the game.
Rachel Hodlik (11-7) picked up the win, allowing two runs on nine hits. Junior Janeille Nickels (12-12) took the loss with one earned run on six hits.
Game three is set for noon Sunday.