| Freshmen Whitney Balch (left) and Dany? Homes were named to the Hotel Encanto Invitational All-Tournament Team on Sunday. | |
LAS CRUCES, N.M. ? Freshman Whitney Balch singled home a pair of runs to cap a wild seventh-inning rally and UTSA scored three in its final at-bat for a 5-4 victory at New Mexico State on Sunday in the final day of the Hotel Encanto Invitational.
Trailing 4-2 in the bottom of the seventh, UTSA (3-4) loaded the bases with no outs. Sophomore Rudi Cantu reached on an error and freshman Dany? Holmes and sophomore Krista Sitka followed with back-to-back walks. Freshman Kristin Kappler then slapped a single to right field to plate Cantu and pull UTSA within one run. Pinch runner sophomore Mercedes Hessel was caught in a rundown on the play between third and home to give the Aggies (2-7) their first out.
After a pitching change, Kappler and Sitka moved up a base on a passed ball, forcing a change at catcher. That set the stage for Balch’s heroics. She lined a single to center field, which was booted, allowing Kappler to tie it and Sitka to cross the plate with the game-clincher.
Balch was 1-for-4 and finished the four-game tournament by going 8-for-12 (.667) with two home runs and five RBIs. She joined Holmes, who batted .333 and made two pitching appearances, on the all-tournament team.
Sitka led the UTSA effort at the plate, going 3-for-3 with a walk and two RBIs.
Senior right-hander Amanda Nikolenko (1-1) picked up her first win of the season in the circle, striking out six and allowing just two earned runs on eight hits in the complete-game effort.
New Mexico State, the host school but playing as the visitors, struck first with a run in the top of the third inning. Stephanie Herrera singled on the infield, stole second and scored on a two-out base hit by Stacey Lien.
UTSA answered in the bottom of the frame when Risberg lifted a one-out double to deep right and scored on a Sitka single up the middle with two down.
The Aggies tacked on a run in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings, including a home run by Hoku Nohara, while the Roadrunners plated a run on another Sitka base hit in the fifth to set up the seventh-inning rally.
Kim Watson (1-3) allowed two runs (one earned) on five hits in four innings of work in the loss.
UTSA’s final scheduled game of the tournament against UT Arlington was cancelled due to inclement weather.
The Roadrunners return to the Greater El Paso Area next weekend for a three-game series at UTEP (Feb. 23-24).
2008 Hotel Encanto Invitational All-Tournament Team
Lauren Cusick, Colorado State (MVP)
Allison Bakke, North Dakota State
Whitney Balch, UTSA
Cayte Billman, Colorado State
Melissa Chmielewski, North Dakota State
Samantha Chumchal, UT Arlington
Danye Holmes, UTSA
Stacey Lien, New Mexico State
Melissa Marincci, Illinois-Chicago
Laurel Pipkin, North Dakota State
Caitlan Stem, Colorado State
Amanda Swofford, UT Arlington