| Freshman Whitney Balch was 2-for-3 on Friday. |
LAS CRUCES, N.M. ? Freshman Whitney Balch went 2-for-3, but Cayte Billman tossed a four-hit shutout to lead Colorado State past UTSA, 6-0, in the opening round of the Hotel Encanto Invitational on Friday at the NMSU Softball Complex.
Billman (4-0) struck out just two batters but allowed one walk and induced 14 groundouts in the complete-game victory for the Rams (6-1). Lauren Cusick and Caitlin Stern combined for six of the Rams' 14 hits, as Cusick was 3-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs, while Stern was 3-for-4 with a double and a pair of RBIs.
Balch had two of UTSA’s four hits, all singles, as the Roadrunners fell to 1-3 on the year. Sophomore Krista Sitka and freshman Danye Holmes both extended their hitting streaks to four games with base knocks.
Cusick led off the bottom of the first with a solo blast to right field to put the Rams up, 1-0. She singled home the second run in the bottom of the second, while a Stern bases-loaded groundout pushed the advantage to three, pushing across Robyn Mask. Stern singled home Staci Sullivan to make it 4-0 after four innings.
UTSA threatened in the top of the fifth, loading the bases with one out on a pair of singles. The Rams got out of the jam with back-to-back groundouts to end the frame.
Colorado State tacked on two more runs over the final innings for the final tally.
Holmes (1-1) got the start and picked up the loss after allowing a run on a pair of hits in the first inning. Senior Amanda Nikolenko recorded five strikeouts but allowed three earned runs on nine hits in five innings of relief.
UTSA faces Illinois-Chicago at 10 a.m. and North Dakota State at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday (both times CT).