North Carolina-Pembroke 10, No. 2 Kutztown 5
No. 2 Kutztown 4, Concord 3
PEMBROKE, N.C. -- Kutztown played the final two games of the UNC Pembroke Invitational on Friday afternoon, recording a win and a loss to kick off the regular season.
The Golden Bears (1-3) began Friday's competition with a rematch against North Carolina-Pembroke, falling to the tournament-host 10-2 in five innings. KU rebounded in the second game, earning its first win of the season with a 4-3 decision against Concord.
Kutztown fell behind in the first inning of the opening game against UNC. KU earned two of its five hits in the first, but left both runners on base to retire the side. UNC fell into a two-out hole quickly, but pulled through with five hits and three runs to open up the scoring.
Rachel Lawes continued her hot hitting streak from the previous game, batting 2-for-3 with two RBI at the two-spot for KU. Savannah Nierintz, Mary Kociencki, and Demi Murray all split time on the mound in the defeat.
In the second game, Kutztown's strong offensive effort in the fifth inning was the key component in the one-run victory against Concord.
Both scoring columns remained blank until Concord brought in two runs during the bottom of the fourth. Kutztown responded nicely, scoring all four of its runs in the top of the fifth.
Augustana 7, No. 1 Central Oklahoma 6
St. Mary's 7, No. 1 Central Oklahoma 2
LAS VEGAS, Nev. -- Central Oklahoma's defense of its NCAA Division II national championship got off to a shaky start here Friday when the Bronchos dropped their first two games of the season in the rugged Desert Stinger Tournament at Majestic Park.
Top-ranked UCO had 14 hits, but left 12 runners on base and committed four crucial errors in falling to No. 22 Augustana 7-6 in the opener before giving up three home runs in a 7-2 loss to St. Mary's.
No. 4 Humboldt State 4, Montana State-Billings 3
No. 4 Humboldt State 12, Hawaii-Hilo 11
LAS VEGAS -- The early season timely hitting continued for Humboldt State on Friday with its third pair of wins in four days.
In the first HSU game, Alison McKibbon capped a four-run bottom of the seventh inning comeback to defeat Hawaii at Hilo 12-11. With the big hit of the night contest, Julie Pena made it a perfect day's results with a key two-run fifth frame home run in a 4-3 victory against Montana State-Billings.
"It was two good wins today against region teams. These are games we needed to win," Jacks head coach Shelli Sarchett said. "The girls played hard for 14 innings and never gave up."
No. 5 Armstrong 14, Barry 7
Florida Tech 3, No. 5 Armstrong 2
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Armstrong split a pair of contests on Friday at the Eckerd College Triton Spring Invitational on Friday at the Eddie Moore Complex. Armstrong defeated No. 24 Barry 14-7 in eight innings before falling to Florida Tech 3-2.
The Pirates (2-1) battled wet conditions in the opener against the Bucs (2-1), which didn't affect the bats as Armstrong jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning on RBI singles by Lacye Walker and Hannah Reppert.
Wayne State (Mich.) 3, No. 7 Indianapolis 0
No. 7 Indianapolis 2, North Alabama 0
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. -- In the earliest start date in the history of the program, No. 7 Indianapolis split a pair of games at the UAH Charger Chillout Friday. The Greyhounds (1-1) dropped a 3-0 decision to in-region Wayne State in the afternoon, then downed North Alabama 2-0 under the lights.
In a rematch of last year's NCAA Regional opening-round game, the Warriors (0-1) held the Hounds hitless through three innings until Taylor Russell led off the fourth with a single. Erika Goodwin followed by reaching on an error during her sac bunt attempt, but the next three Hounds went down in order to strand both runners.
UIndy managed two consecutive singles in the fifth and three consecutive in the six but still couldn't push a run across.
Morgan Lewis tossed a shutout In her first game in the Crimson and Grey. The Tennessee-Martin transfer fanned 10 Lion batters in a three-hit shutout.
Offensively, UIndy got on the board in the top of the first with an RBI triple from Alexa Alfaro.
In the fifth, the Hounds coaxed two walks and two hit batsman for the game's only other run. Alfaro collected her second RBI of the game when her HBP plated Jessica Veck.
No. 8 West Texas A&M 15, Colorado State-Pueblo 5
No. 8 West Texas A&M 6, St. Mary's 5
LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- West Texas A&M pounded out 16 hits and used 12 strikeouts by junior lefty Rita Hokianga as they topped the ThunderWolves of CSU-Pueblo 15-5 in their season opener at Majestic Park in Las Vegas, Nevada to open up the Desert Stinger Invite. The Lady Buffs move to 1-0 on the season while the ThunderWolves fall to 0-1.
"Really good opening win, Rita was strong in the circle and our hitters did a great job of staying disciplined at the plate," WT head coach Kevin Blaskowski said. "Now we've got a quick turnaround before a big regional game against a good St. Mary's team."
The Lady Buffs started off the scoring in the top of the second inning as Kaisha Dacosin singled up the middle to drive in Jessica Sipe from second base with no outs followed by a Lyndsey Knabenshue walk to load the bases but the Lady Buffs left them stranded as they took the early 1-0 lead.
West Texas A&M sophomore catcher Lacey Taylor doubled to the right center field gap with one out to drive in the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning as the Lady Buffs picked up a huge regional victory on Friday night against the Rattlers of St. Mary's 6-5 at Majestic Park in Las Vegas, New Mexico during the Desert Stinger Invite.
The Lady Buffs move to 2-0 on the season.
No. 9 Alabama-Huntsville 6, Bellarmine 4
No. 9 Alabama-Huntsville 7, Ohio Dominican 0
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. -- Alabama-Huntsville swept the opening day of the 2014 Charger Chillout at the Kiwanis Sportsplex, defeating Bellarmine 6-4 before rolling past Ohio Dominican by a 7-0 score in the nightcap.
