Omaha
No. 12 West Texas A&M
Mavs Fall in Game One of Regional Championship, 1-
May 15, 2011 | General, Softball
WTAMU 1, UNO 0
CANYON, Texas - The 15th-ranked UNO softball team fell to No. 12 West Texas A&M, 1-0, in the first of two games on Sunday at the NCAA South Central 2 Regional at Lady Buff Yard.
The loss was only the Mavs' first at the regional, meaning the two teams will square off at 4:30 p.m., for the regional championship and a berth in next weekend's NCAA Super Regional. The top-seeded Lady Buffs battled back from their opening game loss to win three straight and force the deciding game at their home ballpark. Second-seeded UNO dropped to 2-1 at the regional and will try to win its first regional title since 2007 on Sunday evening.
Marci Womack (25-8) and Shelbey Cockrell combined for the shutout win in the circle, while the Lady Buffs' defense was phenomenal, recording three double plays and committing no errors. Meanwhile, UNO couldn't capitalize on several scoring opportunities. The Lady Buffs scored the lone run of the game in the fourth inning, when after two Maverick errors, Kristina Myles hit an RBI single to center field to score Kim LeComte.
Molly Feichtinger bounced a grounder over the third baseman Christie Russell's glove to start the bottom of the first, then Sarah Elliott beat out the throw on a bunt attempt to put runners on first and second with no outs. But Lauren Larson flied out and Katelyn Hinton hit into a 5-3 double play to end the early threat.
Beth Haley worked efficiently through the first two innings, allowing just one hit to the Lady Buffs. In the bottom of the second, the Mavs again got to Lady Buff ace Marci Womack before seeing their effort negated once again by an inning-ending double play. Amber Lutmer hit a one-out single down the right field line, then Ashley Lynch ripped a single over the third baseman Russell's head. But Molly Negrete's sharp liner to right field was snared by Kasey Henderson, who then doubled off pinch-runner Jamie Nash at second to end another Maverick opportunity.
Haley set the Lady Buffs down in order in the third on three flyouts. Then Feichtinger got on board with her second single of the game, but was tagged out on Elliott's grounder to second baseman Kaitlyn Witte, who then flipped to first for the third straight inning-ending double play for the Lady Buffs.
West Texas A&M put runners at first and second with no outs in the fourth inning on two straight dropped balls by the Mavs, and Kim LeComte later came around to score on an RBI single by Kristina Myles for a 1-0 lead. Lynch ended the inning with an unassisted double play at second base to get the Mavs out of the jam without any further damage done.
Lynch started off the bottom of the fifth with a single through the left side, then stole second and moved to third on a grounder by Alli Hukill. The Lady Buffs walked Feichtinger by giving her nothing to hit, then got out of the inning on a groundout by Elliott to shortstop Alyssa Lemos.
In the sixth, Haley allowed the lead-off hitter a single, then notched her fifth, sixth and seventh strikeouts of the game consecutively to retire the side. In the bottom half, the Mavs stranded two more runners when new pitcher Shelbey Cockrell forced Lynch to foul-out to third baseman Christie Russell with runners on the corners.
After a 1-2-3 top of the seventh, Hukill drew a one-out walk in the bottom of the seventh, bringing up the Mavs' leading hitter, Feichtinger. Hukill stole second, but Cockrell caught Feichtinger swinging on a full-count pitch, then got Elliott to fly out to left field to end the game.
Haley finished with three hits allowed and no earned runs. The MIAA Pitcher of the Year struck out seven and walked none in dominating fashion. But the Mavs stranded eight runners on base in the loss. Feichtinger and Lynch each had two hits for the Mavs.
