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Zias split pair at Texas Woman's

DENTON, Texas — Melissa Alderette and Kate Medrano each had three hits and right fielder Tessa Fioritti hit her first home run of the season Friday, lifting Eastern New Mexico University past Texas Woman’s 11-8 in the opener of a Lone Star Conference South Division softball doubleheader.

The Pioneers came back for a 12-2 win in the nightcap, called after 4 1/2 innings on the 10-run rule. The teams finish their series with an 11 a.m. (MDT) single game today.

Fioritti followed a leadoff walk to Alderette with a two-run shot to right in the top of the first inning in the opener. The Zias (6-19, 1-4 South) then chased starter Lizzy Kelly (4-1) with a six-run third for an 8-2 lead, keyed by shortstop Emily Livingston’s go-ahead, two-run single, with two of ENMU’s runs scoring on a wild pitch and an illegal pitch.

The Zias made it 9-2 in the fifth on Paige Colburn’s run-scoring single to left, but TWU (13-10, 2-3) chased ENMU starter Erin Roufosse (4-11) with a six-run sixth — and it would’ve been more except for a second-to-first, ground-ball double play started by Medrano.

Amanda Lale got the third out to strand the tying run at third. Then, after Colburn drew a bases-loaded walk and Medrano hit an RBI infield single for insurance, Lale set the Pioneers down in order in the bottom of the seventh for her first save.

TWU jumped on Zias second-game starter Brittany Widner (2-4) for four first-inning runs on just one hit — catcher Tiffany Weise’s two-run double. Colburn pulled the Zias to 7-2 with a two-run homer, her second of the season, in the third before the Pioneers added one in the third and four in the fourth.

TWU’s Kayla Williams (4-1) allowed four hits with two walks and five strikeouts.