Rogers State softball picked up a pair of wins at the Irwin Classic hosted by the University of Texas-Tyler on Saturday, including a victory over No. 4 Texas-Tyler.
The No. 16 Hillcats opened the day with an 8-1 win over Texas Woman’s University before Andrea Morales tossed a one hitter to lead Rogers State to a 2-0 victory over the top-five ranked Patriots.
How It Happened (Game One): Rogers State fell behind in game one, as the Pioneers took a lead on an RBI groundout in the second inning, but it would be the only run that the Hillcats would give up.
The Hillcats responded with two runs in the third on an RBI single to left field by Kimberli Presnell that scored Faren Walker and Tailee Reding.
Rogers State then capitalized on a pair of errors in the fourth inning to plate four more runs. Rylee DeLozier scored after a ball in play by Sabrina Anguiano resulted in a throwing error by the third baseman. Anguiano and Reding then scored on a ball in play by Day resulted in another error to make it 6-1..
The Hillcats would add two more runs in the sixth, as Elexis Watson doubled to left center, scoring Presnell and Reding.
The runs support would be more than enough for M’Kayla Hillman, who allowed just three hits after the second inning on the way to a win in her first appearance of the year.
How it Happened (Game Two): After a pretty quick first inning, Rogers State took the lead in the second with the opening run. Jaylan Gibson drew a two-out walk and then Watson doubled to left center to bring Gibson around from first.
Rogers State would add another run in the third as Payton Stroud doubled to lead off the inning and then later came around to score on an infield single by Makayla Bowman.
Two runs would be more than enough support for Morales, as she pitched a couple of 1-2-3 innings in the fourth and fifth and didn’t allow a runner past first base after a double in the third.
Players of Note: Morales pitched her second complete game of the season, going all seven innings to improve to 2-0 I two stars this season. The El Paso, Texas native allowed just the one hit and three walks as she recorded 10 strikeouts.
Watson and Presnell were the only Hillcats with two hits on the day. Watson had a hit in each game with two RBIs in game one and her third RBI of the day in game two.
Both of Presnell’s hits came in game one.
Hillman allowed just one run on six hits with four strikeouts in the game one victory.
Reding had three walks in game one and Danelle Day had two walks and a hit-by-pitch on the day.
Courtney Hill made an appearance in the circle in game one, pitching a scoreless seventh inning with two strikeouts in her Hillcat debut.
Notes from the Day: Rogers State picked up its first ranked win of the season and first ranked win since a 5-0 victory over No. 21 Texas A&M-Commerce on February 22, 2020.
The victory over No. 4 Texas-Tyler is the highest ranked win in the NCAA era for the Hillcat softball program.
For the first time in school history, two Rogers State programs earned wins against a top-five team. Along with softball’s win against Texas-Tyler, baseball also picked up a win against No. 4 Central Missouri.
Up Next: Rogers State will be back in action on Tuesday as the Hillcats travel to Texas for a doubleheader against the Texas A&M – Commerce Lions. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.
