Friday, February 13, 2015
LAS VEGAS, NEV. — Junior designated player
Kyra Sirag (Garden Grove, Calif./Rancho Alamitos HS) batted two-for-three with a solo home run to lead the Eastern New Mexico University softball team (3-1) to a decisive 8-0 win over Saint Cloud State (1-1), Friday to open the Desert Stinger Tournament at Majestic Park. The homerun was the fifth of her career.
The contest marked the first-ever meeting between the programs. The win gives the Zias three wins in the first four games for the first time since the 2001 season. It also marked the first time a pitcher opened the season a 3-0 since Amanda Nightingale in the 2005 season.
Freshman pitcher
Aja Secheslingloff (Fr., Acampo, Calif./Lodi HS) faced just three batters over the minimum and scattered three singles over five innings with three strikeouts and no walks. Over the first three innings, she retired eight of the first nine batters she faced.
Eastern went to work quickly and sent nine batters to the plate in the second inning, which led off with a walk to
Marleyna Piñon (Jr., RF, Rio Rancho, N.M./Volcano Vista HS). Back-to-back two-out RBI singles from
Susannah Chandler (So., SS, Farmington, N.M./Piedra Vista HS) and
Savannah Chavez (Sr., LF, Albuquerque, N.M./Valley HS) staked ENMU to a 2-0 lead. A fielding error allowed ENMU to tack on a third run. Sirag belted a solo homer in the third inning. The Zias capitalized on an error, two bases loaded walks and a walk-off RBI pinch-hit single from
Elizabeth Velasquez (Sr., Las Cruces, N.M./Las Cruces HS). Eastern sent eight batters to the plate in the inning and scored four runs to end the game on the eight-run rule.
Eastern held a 7-3 edge in total hits for the game and cracked its fourth homerun in four games. Secheslingoff went the distance and did not allow a runner past first base. Chavez and Chandler each drove in two runs. Senna Francesconi fanned five for St. Cloud, but allowed eight runs on six hits over 4.1 innings over work, to take the loss.
