Softball Drops Two at Day 1 of Mary Nutter Classic

Saturday, February 17

Cathedral City, CA

1 PM (10 AM PT)

Army West Point

1-5

UC Riverside

4-3

UC Riverside

Army

Softball Drops Two at Day 1 of Mary Nutter Classic

February 17, 2018 | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. – The Army West Point softball team fell in a pair of games to UC Riverside and Weber State on the opening day of the Mary Nutter Classic Saturday afternoon.

GAME 1: UC RIVERSIDE 10, ARMY 0 (5 INNINGS)
ARMY HIGHLIGHTS AND GAME NOTES

Kristen McPeek reached base safely for the sixth consecutive game.
Emily Ballesteros came up with the lone Army hit, a single in the second inning.
Madison Bryant appeared in the circle and tossed two scoreless innings in relief.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Despite not recording a single hit in the opening inning, the Highlanders still managed to put three runs on the board to get out to an early lead.
Following a 1-2-3 first for Army, UC Riverside returned to the plate in the second. After the leadoff runner got on, back-to-back doubles plated a pair of runs.
The Highlanders took a 6-0 lead into the fourth and added four additional runs to make it a 10-run game, before closing out the final two frames to grab the win.

GAME 2: WEBER STATE 8, Army 7
ARMY HIGHLIGHTS AND GAME NOTES

McPeek made it on base safely for the seventh straight game.
Four Cadets tallied a multi-hit game.
Ally Snelling recorded her first two-hit game in her career.
Sam Hartman hit her first career grand slam and third career home run.
Emily Ballesteros drove in her first two runs of the season.
Seven different Cadets scored a run.
Army had 12 hits and left nine runners on base.

HOW IT HAPPENED

In the first, McPeek led off for Army with a single up the middle. The Black Knights got another baserunner on once Amelia Trotter notched a base hit through the left side, setting up Ballesteros for a two-RBI single to right center.
Weber State cut the Army lead in half with a single run in the third, but Army was quick to counter in the bottom half of the frame. With one out, Ballesteros was hit by a pitch and the ensuing two runners reached safely to load the bases. Hartman then came to the plate and belted a grand slam over the fence in right to put the Cadets ahead 6-1.
The Black Knights did not let up and tacked on one additional run in the inning after Taylor Livingston singled to left and scored on a McPeek RBI double down the left field line.
Army's six-run advantage held until the fifth and the Wildcats began to chip away. A bunt single to leadoff the inning resulted in a run after an RBI double. Two runs were then plated in the sixth to trim the deficit to three, 7-4.
In the seventh, Weber State began the inning with back-to-back singles. With runners on first and third and one out, a run came in to score on a ground out to first. Army had a chance to close out the game, but two consecutive errors extended the inning and permitted another run to cross, making it a one-run game.
After the Wildcats loaded the bases with a two-out walk, a two-RBI single up the middle gave Weber State its first lead of the game, which it held onto en route to the comeback win.

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