Jags down TAMUSA, fall to LSUA on opening day of RRAC Softball Tournament

ALEXANDRIA, La. – The (RV) UHV softball team will face an elimination game Sunday after splitting its two games on the first day of the Red River Athletic Conference Softball Tournament.

The No. 3-seeded Jaguars (31-11) took down Texas A&M-San Antonio, 7-1, in the first round before falling, 3-0, to the No. 2 seed LSU Alexandria in a winner's bracket game at the Champions Sports Complex.

UHV will face host Louisiana Christian at 11 a.m. Sunday at Wildcat Park in Pineville, Louisiana, with the winner of that game advancing to a 6:30 p.m. elimination game.

"I think this team, in and of itself, handles adversity well; handles those backs-against-the-wall opportunities," said head coach Lindsey Ortiz. "Obviously, we want to win that (LSUA) game. But we played well and sometimes things just don't go your way. That's the message, that we're still playing exceptionally good softball."

This scenario is not unfamiliar territory for the Jaguars. In fact, it's the exact same scenario as they went through in 2021 when they won the conference tournament – coincidentally held at Wildcat Park – and advanced all the way to the NAIA Softball World Series.

It's a blueprint Ortiz wants her players to see to understand what's still possible for them.

"We've done this before," Ortiz said. "This senior group has seen us do this before and be very successful. So, (the message), it's to continue to play good softball and make things happen in our favor."

UHV opened the scoring with two runs each in the bottom of the first and second innings against Texas A&M-San Antonio thanks to a pair of RBI doubles from Kaylle Lopez, an RBI single from Claire Blinka and an RBI double by Kenzie Chambers.

Chambers and Lopez sparked a five-run unanswered stretch to close the game with back-to-back doubles in the second to put UHV up 5-1 at the time. Chambers was 3-for-4 while Lopez went 2-for-3 in the first game of the day.

But it was pitching that spurred the Jaguars in both games on Saturday.

Eryn Sanchez improved to 4-1 in the circle after throwing five innings in which she allowed just one run on five hits. The only run she let up was a solo home run to Emily Palacio in the second.

"I think the great thing about Eryn is she carries herself with such confidence," Ortiz said. "I don't have any hesitation putting her out there to start the tournament because the team feeds off her and the way she holds herself. I think anytime we put her out there, she's going to give us a chance to win. I'm super proud of what she did today."

Cameron Cowan, who took the loss against the Generals (34-12), also had a strong performance in the circle with six innings of three-hit softball. All three runs came off a home run by Madi Baker in the bottom of the fourth inning.

"I have full faith we'll take what we learned today and the small lessons learned, and apply them to have a great day tomorrow," Ortiz said. "I feed off their energy and I'm excited to see what they do the rest of the tournament."