SAN MARCOS, CA - The fifth-seeded UBC Thunderbirds second varsity season came to an end on Friday afternoon at the A.I.I. softball championship after an 11-4 loss to the third-seeded, and no. 9 NAIA-ranked, University of Houston-Victoria Jaguars.
The Jaguars broke open a 2-2 game in the top of the sixth inning with five runs to pull away from a tenacious UBC squad.
Alison Hinton led of the inning with a single and then scored on a double by Kelly King. Kristina Droz put an exclamation on the inning with a two-run home run that was just out of the reach of T-Bird left fielder Jess Barclay. A pair of singles and one RBI for the Jaguars chased UBC starter
Leigh Della Siega for Kelly Andison. Another single was followed by a sacrifice fly off the bat of Courtney Petit which rounded out the scoring in the frame.
UHV added four runs in the seventh while strining together six consecutive hits before the T-Birds added a pair of runs in the bottom of the final inning to close out the contest.
In contrast to the finish, it was a great start for UBC who took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Barclay was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning before
Alyssa Derksen reached first on a Jaguar error.
Jesslyn Hodge, with two outs, hit a sharp ground ball up the middle to cash in Barclay.
UBC made it 2-0 in the top of the third as a long double from
Courtney O'Connor to left-centre plated
Tanya McLean who had reached on a walk.
Della Siega, a freshman who led UBC in innings thrown this season, had put together a solid performance until an error in the fifth allowed the Jaguars to get on the board.
Droz led the inning off with a double and advanced to third on an infield single by Bre'Neka O'Bryant. Both those runners came in to count after an error in the UBC outfield.
Della Siega took the loss, going five and one-third innings allowing seven runs, five earned, and nine hits while striking out a pair. Andison pitched one and two-thirds in relief, giving up four runs and seven hits with three strikeouts.
Dawn Villegas collected the win for UHV, pitching six innings of two-run ball and striking out four. Baylea Wagener worked the seventh for the Jaguars.
UBC finishes their second varsity season with an overall record of 23-20.
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