Lady Cats split against Artesia

ARTESIA — The Clovis Lady Cats went into the second game of Tuesday’s doubleheader looking for a sweep. After the first inning, they were just trying to make it to the end.

The Lady Cats shut out Artesia 4-0, then were mercy-ruled 12-2 in the second game.

Rachelle Urban struck out four and walked two while pitching a three-hitter in the early game. Sonia Chavez hit a two-run double in the first inning to give the Lady Cats a lead.

Clovis was unable to carry the momentum and yielded six runs in the top of the first inning of the second game.

Clovis coach Brandi Thomas said she liked how her team continued to battle to stay in the game.

“I’m very proud of the girls,” Thomas said. “They competed on both sides of the plate. We swung the bats and we made good defensive plays.”

Coming off a shutout, Thomas said the first inning of game two killed the Lady Cats’ momentum.

“I could see the air being let out of us,” she said.

Thomas said she and her team were not happy with the officiating in the second tilt, and that softens the blow of being mercy-ruled.

“We were taken out of the game,” she said. “And my girls knew that. It’s not like Artesia beat us or like we lost the game. There was nothing we could do.”