PORTALES, N.M. (Apr. 15) – TWU junior shortstop
Nicole Nordie drove in six of the Pioneers' 13 runs in the doubleheader at Eastern New Mexico and helped the team to a split Friday afternoon. After dropping the first game 5-4 in eight innings the Pioneers bounced back with a 9-8 win in the second.
In game one, senior
Tealey Farquhar started the game with a single and later scored on RBI-sacrifice by Nordie to put TWU on top 1-0. The bats were quite for the next four innings for both teams before the Greyhounds took a 2-1 lead on a two-run home run in the sixth.
Junior
Katy Stephens started the seventh with her second home run of the season to tie the game at 2-2. The Pioneers regained the lead in the eighth and went on top 4-2 on a RBI-double by Nordie and a RBI sacrifice by sophomore
Amanda Gray. ENMU responded in the bottom of the eighth with three runs including two unearned runs to capture the win.
In game two both teams traded runs in the first and third innings and the score was tied at 2-2. Nordie drove in TWU's first run while senior
Laura Mabary picked up the RBI in the third.
Gray put the Pioneers on top in the fourth inning with her second home run of the season and Farquhar later drove in two more runs with two outs to make it 5-2. The Greyhounds scored an unearned run in the bottom of the inning to cut the deficit to two.
TWU pushed the lead back to three on a RBI single by Stephens in the fifth and added three more in the sixth on a three-run blast by Nordie to make it 9-5. It's Nordie's team leading fourth home run of the season. ENMU rallied in the bottom of the sixth and scored five runs to make it 9-8.
Junior
Hailey Dixon came in relief in the seventh and shutdown the Greyhounds to pick up the save on a pop-up, strikeout and a groundout.
"We let one slip away in game one after rallying back to take the lead in extra innings," said TWU head coach
Genny Stidham. "Our pitching struggled in both games and we had couple of mistakes on defense. Offensively we had quite a few players with key hits especially in the second game."
Nordie finished the day 5-for-7 with six RBI while Farquhar went 6-for-8 with four runs, three stolen bases and two RBI. Mabary was 4-for-5 and Stephens finished 4-for-8 with two RBI.
The Pioneers will return to action when they wrap-up the four-game series with Eastern New Mexico on Saturday, Apr. 16. The doubleheader is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. (CST).
