It was the first two games of a final home stand of the 2023 season for the Sul Ross State softball team.
On Friday afternoon,
Annika Canaba made history by playing all nine positions on the diamond during Game 1 against the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor at the Lobo Softball Field.
At the end of the day, the conference-leading and No. 18 ranked Crusaders swept the doubleheader by the scores of 20-2 and 13-3 in five innings.
>> GAME 1:
Canaba played three outfield positions during the top of the fourth before she made her way around the infield in the top of the fifth.
After a quick stint at first base, Canaba then faced one batter. She worked ahead to two strikes which included a changeup that threw the batter off balance.
The Lobos scored in the first inning.
After back-to-back singles by Canaba and
Samantha Chavez,
Camryn Hardin singled through the left side to drive in a run.
Veronica Rodriguez highlighted the bottom of the fifth by hitting a solo home run.
The Lobos tallied seven hits in the contest.
Hardin finished 2 for 2 with two singles and an RBI. Chavez, Canaba and Rodriguez all went 1 for 2.
>> GAME 2:
Sul Ross erased the shutout in the third with a solo home run by
Jenna Spencer.
Canaba then delivered a two-run home run in the fifth after a one-out single by Spencer.
Hardin went 1 for 3 with a single while Rodriguez tallied a single and a triple to go 2 for 2.
Spencer finished 2 for 2 with two RBI and a pair of runs scored.
Nadia Valverde hit a pair of singles to finish 2 for 3.
>> POSTGAME INTERVIEWS:
"It was a lot of fun. It was definitely a cool experience and I'm grateful that my teammates supported it." —
Annika Canaba on playing all nine positions in Game 1
"I was a little nervous warming up. Once the batter went up to the plate, I was just kind of like, 'Enjoy the moment. Whatever happens, happens. Just throw it in there. If they hit it, they hit it.'" —
Annika Canaba on coming in to pitch
"I'm excited. It's sad that it had to happen like that because of the score. I've seen that in baseball. Never seen it in softball. I've been coaching a long time, so I thought it would be kind of cool. It turned out pretty good. Her teammates were excited for her to do that." —
Troy Canaba on his daughter playing all nine positions
"We just got to finish the season. We kind of had our ups and downs, but they fought and worked hard. Mary Hardin-Baylor's good. There's a lot of stuff that happened today that we just didn't take care of, but it happens. I'm proud of them for fighting hard. Our pitchers grinded a little bit in the circle. We hit the ball. They just made a lot of good plays." —
Troy Canaba
>> RECORDS: Sul Ross (10-18, 8-15); UMHB (26-9, 19-3)
>> UP NEXT: The three-game series concludes with a single game at 11 a.m. Saturday, April 29.