? Game 1 box score
? Game 2 box score
| Senior Amanda Nikolenko tied UTSA's career strikeout record on Friday. |
CONWAY, Ark. ? Senior Amanda Nikolenko tied UTSA’s career strikeouts record and UTSA pounded out 22 total hits ? including four for extra bases ? in a 7-1, 6-0 doubleheader sweep of Central Arkansas on Friday night in Southland Conference softball action at Farris Field.
The Roadrunners extended their conference winning streak to five games, improving to 10-4 in the league and 14-12 overall. The Bears fell to 2-24 and 0-11.
Nikolenko fanned 10 batters in the nightcap to tie the school record of 519 set by Ursula Mares from 2004-06. She scattered five hits in tossing her third shutout and ninth complete game of the year in running her record to 6-6 overall and 4-2 in SLC games.
It marked the third UTSA career record the right-hander has surpassed this season, as she also owns the starts (95) and innings pitched (644.0) marks. Nikolenko also now has 60 career victories and needs just one more win to tie Mares’ school record of 61 set in 2004-06.
Freshman Danye Holmes tossed a shutout of her own in the opener, a 6-1 victory. The left-hander struck out four and allowed just one run on three hits in improving to 4-1 in conference and 5-4 overall.
Meanwhile, the UTSA bats awoke for 11 hits in each half of the twinbill. Holmes helped her own cause with a three-run blast in the fifth inning of game one, one of two hits for the Sugar Land native, while junior Leanne Risberg also blasted a three-run shot and totaled four RBIs in a 3-for-3 showing at the plate. Senior Lindsay Perry went 2-for-3 and scored a pair of runs, as the Roadrunners tagged Lindsey Harris (1-12) with the loss.
The Bears’ lone run in the opener came via a solo homer by Courtney Brock in the fifth inning.
UTSA got two hits apiece from Risberg, Perry, senior Kourtney Jones, sophomore Rudi Cantu and freshman Kristin Kappler in game two.
The Roadrunners manufactured a run in the top of the third to break open a scoreless game. Cantu led off with a base hit down the left field line, stole second and scored on a single to enter by Holmes.
UTSA tacked on an unearned run in the fourth, as sophomore Mercedes Hessel reached on an error, moved to second on a walk to Jones and came all the way around to score on a sac bunt by Cantu.
The Roadrunners broke the game open with a three-run fifth. Kappler led off with her third round tripper of the year and Cantu capped a two-out rally with a two-run triple to plate Perry and Jones, who both reached on singles. An RBI-single by Kappler in the sixth plated sophomore pinch runner Kelly Cato with the sixth and final run.
Game three is set for noon on Saturday.