Cowgirls shutout Eagle softball

The Chadron State Eagle’s softball team showed heart at its doubleheader against the New Mexico Highlands University Cowgirls in Colorado Springs, Colo., taking home a win and a loss.

The first game of the day, the Eagles won 10-6.

According to the CSC athletics page, the Chadron State softball team scored seven runs in the second inning.

Chadron State benefitted from some timely hitting in the first game, scoring five of its seven runs in the second inning with two outs. The final score of the game was, 10-6 with an Eagles’ win over New Mexico Highlands.

Katie Bolin, senior of Kearney and CSC’s career homerun record holder, hit a three-run bomb over center field, giving CSC a 7-0 lead.

The second game ended in favor of New Mexico Highlands 3-0.

Starting strong, but without much advantage, Melissa Martinez of New Mexico Highlands pitched a shutout in the Cowgirls’ 3-0 win.

“We got 6 hits, but found ourselves too anxious. We ended up getting shutout for the third time all season which was surprising because we were hitting the ball,” head coach Rob Stack said. “We had opportunities, but we didn’t come through.”

According to the CSC athletics page, Highlands’ Martinez shut down the Eagles’ offense.

Nikki Ritzen, sophomore of Chadron, had the only extra-base hit with a double in the third inning. Only two other CSC players reached second base in the game.

“This weekend we learned what we didn’t do well, we are going to work on it during practice, and improve it in our game against Colorado Springs this weekend,” Stack said.

The Eagles host the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs Mountain Lions in a four-game Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference series this weekend, beginning with Saturday’s doubleheader at noon.