TUCSON, Ariz. — On Day 1 of the Tucson Invitational Games, the Sul Ross State softball team went 1-1 on Wednesday afternoon at Lincoln Park.
Sul Ross defeated the Rochester Institute of Technology in Game 1 by a score of 9-4.
In Game 2, Central College edged the Lobos, 5-3.
>> SUL ROSS 9, RIT 4:
RIT took a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first.
The Lobos then rallied for five runs in the top of the second.
Kyndell Garcia was hit by pitch with the bases loaded to get Sul Ross on the board.
Leanza Chambers then drew a bases-loaded walk and then
Samantha Chavez drove in Lizbeth Dominguez on a sacrifice fly to right.
Annika Canaba tied up the game at 4-4 with an RBI single to left.
Nadia Valverde then delivered the go-ahead RBI ground out to second that brought in Chambers.
Garcia hit an RBI single in the top of the third to bring in Dominguez to make the score 6-4.
In the top of the fourth, Chavez hit a leadoff single. Canaba later drove in Chavez with an RBI single to center.
Adriana Hernandez then drove in Canaba on a grounder to second to put Sul Ross ahead by four.
The Lobos added one more in the fifth with an RBI triple by Chambers.
Sul Ross had 10 hits to the five for RIT.
Canaba finished 2 for 4 with two singles and two RBI while Chambers went 2 for 3 with a single, a triple, a walk and two RBI.
Garcia hit a single and scored two runs to finish 1 for 2 with two RBI and a walk. Hernandez went 1 for 3 with a double, a walk and an RBI.
Chavez finished 1 for 2 with an RBI and a walk while
Claire Decker tallied a single to go 1 for 4.
Dominguez ended up going 1 for 3 with a walk.
Chambers allowed five hits in a complete-game outing as she struck out five batters and did not allow an earned run.
>> RECORDS: Sul Ross (2-6); RIT (0-7)
>> CENTRAL COLLEGE 5, SUL ROSS 3:
The Lobos managed to out-hit Central College, 7-4.
Central led 1-0 in the top of the first.
Sul Ross answered back by scoring two runs in the bottom half of the first. Valverde hit an RBI double while
Jenna Spencer tallied an RBI single to put the Lobos ahead.
Central tacked on two more runs in the top of the third and one run in the top of the fourth to take the 4-2 lead.
The Lobos brought in a run in the bottom of the fourth during a first-and-third situation when Dominguez scored from third to cut the deficit to one.
Central added a run in the sixth to hold on for the win.
Canaba finished 1 for 4 with a single while Valverde went 1 for 3 with an RBI.
Jaelyn Zuniga went 1 for 3 with a single. Spencer, Dominguez and Garcia all finished 1 for 3.
Hunter Montes tallied a single in the bottom of the second to go 1 for 1. Montes threw 4.1 innings allowing two earned runs on four hits with three strikeouts.
Briannah Mejias faced eight batters in 2.2 innings.
>> RECORDS: Sul Ross (2-8); Central College (10-1)
>> UP NEXT: The Lobos have three games on the final day of the Tucson Invitational Games on Thursday. Sul Ross takes on Dawson Community College at 9 a.m. MST, Coe College at 11 a.m. MST and the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse at 1:30 p.m. MST at Lincoln Park's Field 8.
