COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (GoThunderWolves.com - April 28, 2013) - As the regular season came to an end Sunday, the CSU-Pueblo softball team fell in heartbreaking fashion, losing 1-0 to Colorado Mines before a walkoff homer in the seventh by UC-Colorado Springs defeated the Pack 8-7.
The two losses have the Pack finishing the season with an overall record of 28-16, with a 25-14 RMAC record to finish third in the conference.
Game one against the Orediggers was highlighted by the performance of both pitchers. Preseason RMAC Pitcher of the Year Kelly Unkrich battled Justine Bosio (Sr., Santa Barbara, Calif.), who sits top-five in the conference in both ERA and wins.
The lone run came in the sixth inning off an RBI single by Melissa Marshall as she drove in Sami Springer to give Unkrich her conference-leading 22nd win of the year.
Game two was simply a battle as the ThunderWolves and Mountain Lions traded leads throughout the game, until the final blow in the seventh.
The Mountain Lions got off to an early 2-0 lead with a double by Jourdan Hitchings to left field.
The lead was quickly erased in the top of the fifth inning as the Pack executed a double steal that saw Samantha Rios (Sr., Fullerton, Calif.) swipe second base, allowing Courtney Fick (Jr., Romona, Calif.) to ultimately steal home. Dora Hernandez (Fr., Benton City, Wash.) and McKenzie Joseph (Sr., Bakersfield, Calif.) would cap the four-run inning with singles to go up 4-2.
The Mountain Lions would respond in the bottom half of the fifth with a huge inning of their own as they scored five runs to take the lead and put the pressure back on the Pack. An error helped spark the long inning that culminated with back-to-back run scoring singles by UCCS batters.
Sidney Bailey (So., Pueblo, Colo.) would cut the lead to one after reaching on an RBI single to center field that would score Rios. She would then steal second base and advance to third on a passed ball.
Down to their last out in the seventh, Sianna Gomez' (Fr., Glendale, Ariz.) pinch hit single down the right field line set up the opportunity for the Pack to steal a game in extra innings.
Unfortunately the Mountain Lions ended all hopes for a rally with a leadoff homer in the seventh to steal the game.
The Pack will finish the season third in the conference and will open up the conference tournament as the three seed in Golden, Colo.
