By Justin Corbett
ALPINE, Texas - Softball's
Nadia Valverde walked off game one before Concordia took game two in a doubleheader split on Friday.
"I'm so proud of these girls!" said head coach
Troy Canaba. "They battled in both of these games. We had plenty of chances to give up, but they continued to fight."
Game 1: Sul Ross 3, Concordia 2 (8 innings)
The Tornados took an early 1-0 lead in the first inning.
Rebecca Rodriguez tied things at 1-1 in the bottom of the fourth with an RBI single to left field, plating
Jenna Spencer. In the very next at-bat,
Heather Rios hit a single to center field that brought in
Payslee Sims to give the Lobos at 2-1 advantage after four.
Concordia responded in the top of the fifth to tie the game at 2-2. Scoring ceased from there for a 2-2 score heading to extras.
The Lobo defense showed no signs of wear. After allowing a base hit, Sully would force the Tornados into a groundout to third, and a double play to end the top half of the inning.
Samantha Chavez kicked things off with a single to right field.
Annika Canaba then put down a sacrifice bunt to move Chavez to second.
Nadia Valverde proved to be the hero with a walk-off double to right field to plate Chavez and put the Lobos ahead for good.
The win snapped Concordia's six-game win streak.
Sims finished with a game-high three hits.
Jodie Vaughn once again had a solid performance on the bump, going all eight innings, allowing tone earned run and striking out three.
Game 2: Concordia 21, Sul Ross 14
The Tornados again raced out to an early lead in the first inning, this time 2-0. However, Sully found a quick answer as Valverde continued to be a thorn in the side of Concordia with a 2-RBI single to score Canaba and
Camryn Hardin to make it 2-2 after one.
Concordia used a combination of good hitting and Sully errors in the second to make it 10-2 after two.
The Tornados kept their foot on the gas and added three more runs in the third inning to make it 13-2, however a double from Sims brought in Canaba to make it 13-3 after three.
Concordia grabbed three more runs in the fifth to extend their lead to 16-3.
Sul Ross would not go away without a fight and was able to go on a six-run rally.
Hunter Montes started things off with a ground out to second that scored Sims. Chavez kept things going with a 3-RBI double to plate Hardin, Vaughn and Rios. A Canaba single then brought in Chavez. Valverde launched a double to deep center to plate Canaba to cut the Tornado lead to 16-9 after five.
Concordia's bats stayed hot in the sixth to add four more and bring their lead to 20-9.
Sully again had an answer. Hardin set the pace with a single to plate
Cayman Ivins. Chavez kept things going with a 2-RBI single to score
Veronica Rodriguez and
Raquelle Bernal. Valverde then added a sacrifice fly to bring in Hardin. Sims followed suit with a single to center to score Chavez for a 20-14 score going to the seventh.
The Tornados added one insurance run in their half of the seventh for a 21-14 lead that also went final.
Chavez tied a game-high five RBI, batting 3-for-5 with two runs scored.
Hardin and Sims also added three hits each.
With the split, Sul Ross moves to 3-4 (2-3 ASC) while Concordia stands at 7-3 (4-1 ASC).
The Lobos are back in action on Saturday, February 19 at 12:00 p.m. looking for their first series win of the season.
