DENVER – Somewhere on the journey from Chadron to Denver, the Chadron State softball team became stuck in a time loop. Or a bad sequel to the 1993 movie
Groundhog Day.
Four times, including during 6-5 and 5-4 defeats on Friday at the hands of the Regis Rangers (12-22, 11-17 RMAC), the Eagle program scored in the first inning and held the lead in the fifth inning or later. Four times, Regis found a way to win and left Chadron State (4-33, 4-24 RMAC) outside the win column.
It continues a trying pattern of close games not breaking the Eagles' way. In RMAC contests alone, Chadron State has seven one-run losses and five two-run losses, meaning half of their league defeats (12 of 24) have come by the slimmest of margins – 1-0 to New Mexico Highlands, 10-9 to No. 10-ranked Colorado Christian, and everything in between.
The close losses overshadow an overwhelming number of positives and milestone moments from Friday's gameplay. The Eagles recorded 11 hits in the first game, their second-highest single-game total this year, and set a new season-high with five extra-base hits in game two as five as CSC's six hits were doubles.
Brogan Allen continues to go on an offensive tear, going 3-for-3 with four RBI in game one and adding another RBI in the second game. Freshman
Brianna Cordray also went 3-for-3 in game one and finished the day 5-for-7 with three RBI across both games.
In the circle,
McKenna Sides pitched a career-high six innings in throwing the first complete game of her collegiate career. In the second game, sophomore
Belle Akins punched out a career-high nine batters. Both pitchers allowed just three earned runs. Both were stuck with the loss in their respective starts.
Unlike Thursday, when the Eagles scored all their runs early and watched Regis score all its runs late, Chadron State fought back at multiple moments only for the hosts to land the final punch.
In game one, Chadron State scored first when an Allen single drove home
Charley Pitrat, but trailed 2-1 after three innings. The Eagles took the lead with three runs in the fourth inning, all with two outs and all after reliever and Thursday boogeyman Vanessa Candito entered the game.
A walk to
Elizabeth Thorngren, Candito's first hitter, loaded the bases for the red-hot Allen. The Cheyenne native came through with a two-run single, then stole second base to put runners on second and third. A Cordray single brought home another run to give CSC a 4-2 lead.
Regis scored an unearned run in the bottom half of the fourth, then tied it in the fifth with a two-out walk, stolen base and RBI single combo. The Eagles edged ahead again, with
Macie Selfors legging out a leadoff triple and scoring on yet another Allen base hit, but Regis strung three two-out singles together to take a 6-5 lead in the bottom of the sixth.
The Rangers saved their most dramatic comeback for last. Chadron State took a 2-0 lead on a two-out, two-run double to left center from Cordray that scored
Charley Pitrat and Thorngren. Regis answered with two in the third inning and the teams were deadlocked 2-2 after five innings.
Chadron State took the lead in the sixth with back-to-back one-out doubles from Cordray and freshman
Sydney Lowery, who tallied her first RBI in a month with the hit. The Eagles added what seemed to be a crucial insurance run in the seventh when Allen doubled off the base of the wall in right field to score Pitrat from first with two outs.
Unfortunately, everything unraveled again. Back-to-back Regis one-out singles put runners on the corners, and Jane Quinn laid down a bunt. The throw took the first baseman into the runner and kicked off Allen's glove, scoring a run and allowing Quinn to go to second while the other runner moved to third.
A wild pitch, Akins's first of the entire weekend in 11 innings, followed the pitch after and moved the runners up 60 feet, tying the score. Two pitches later, a ground ball deflected off the shortstop's glove for a base hit, and it was all over.
Chadron State will return home to face Colorado School of Mines next Saturday and Sunday, April 11-12.
