Jags fall to top-seeded OLLU, will face elimination game later today
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Houston-Victoria | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 1 |
|
Our Lady of the Lake | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | X | 8 | 7 | 1 |
PINEVILLE, La. – The UHV softball team fell, 8-3, to No. 1-seed Our Lady of the Lake University on Friday morning.
The Jaguars will face an elimination game vs. the winner of the Xavier (La.)-Louisiana Christian elimination game.
UHV (28-20) opened the scoring on a two-run double by Deeandra Maldonado in the first inning and were tied at 3-3 going to the bottom of the fourth thanks to an RBI single by Jayce Bolin.
"I'm very proud in our team," said head coach Lindsey Ortiz. "Obviously, we're disappointed in the outcome – we always want to come out with a win – but watching them and being a part of it, they kept the energy up the entire time and they executed the gameplan. They scored early and responded immediately when OLLU took the lead. So, I think a couple of things didn't exactly fall our way."
After Bolin tied the game in the fourth, OLLU drove in five runs on two separate hits in the bottom of the inning. Three came from a double by Kristee Salas before Grace Ross hit a two-run home run.
"We missed a pitch to Grace Ross and you can't do that," Ortiz added. "She made us pay for it and that separated it a little bit. But really and truly, I never felt like we were out of the game. So I'm proud of our effort and I'm excited to see us continue playing."
Those would be the only big blows the Jaguars let up to the defending national champion Saints.
Alexi Wade came on to throw a strong two innings of relief behind starter Jocelyne Galvan, who suffered the loss in the circle – just her second this season in 15 appearances.
Wade, a senior from Granger, allowed just one hit and a walk to the seven batters she faced.
"We never let the score determine how we were going to be in the dugout," Wade said. "I think that helped us a lot."
Six different Jaguars recorded hits, including Claire Blinka who extended her hitting streak to 10 games.
UHV swept each series vs. its potential elimination game opponents, the Gold Nuggets and Wildcats, this season.