Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
CNJ staff photo: Liliana Castillo ENMU junior shortstop Emily Livingston slides home with a run during the second inning of Saturday's Lone Star Conference South Division softball game against Texas A&M-Kingsville at Zia Softball Field.
PORTALES — What a difference a day can sometimes make.
Eastern New Mexico University’s softball team rode solid defense, the complete-game pitching effort of junior Erin Roufosse and third-inning home runs from Tessa Fioritti and Kate Medrano to an 8-3 Lone Star Conference South Division victory over Texas A&M-Kingsville, salvaging the finale of the three-game set.
On Friday, the Javelinas (20-16, 3-6 South) had three innings of seven or more runs in a 10-3, 22-5 sweep. This time, Roufosse (6-16) needed just 94 pitchers to complete a seven-hitter.
ENMU (10-23, 2-7) trailed 2-1 going into the bottom of the third, but Fioritti tied it with her second homer of the season leading off, then Medrano added her fifth homer for a 4-2 lead after a walk to Taylor Howard.
It was 5-3 going into the bottom of the sixth, but the Zias put it out of reach with a three-spot that featured Howard’s RBI single and Medrano’s run-scoring double.
Medrano led a 13-hit attack against Kingsville’s Amanda Arriaga (11-12) and Cassandra Hernandez, going 3-for-3 with two runs scored and three RBIs. Fioritti and shortstop Emily Livingston each had a pair of hits.
Kingsville scored an unearned run in the first, but the Zias tied it on Devin Higgins’ run-scoring single to center with two out in the second. The Javs went back in front in the third on Arriaga’s RBI single.
Livingston’s run-scoring single in the fifth made it 5-2, and the Javs got one back in the sixth on a one-out RBI single by Janay Gonzalez. Roufosse retired the next five hitters, though, to nail down her eighth complete game of the season.
