After an impressive comeback a week ago, the Texas A&M University-San Antonio softball team suffered back-to-back losses against the University of the Incarnate Word Cardinals Wednesday night at UIW’s H-E-B Field.
The Jaguars were shut out 7-0 in Game 1 and 7-3 in the nightcap.
A&M-San Antonio entered with a record of 7-9 after a huge win against Southwestern University on March 30, with the team erasing an 8-1 deficit to win 9-8 and looked to shift that same momentum to this game.
But the team struggled to find a groove in the first game against the 8-16 Cardinals, which are NCAA Division 1 opponents.
The Jaguars are a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics team as this is the first year A&M-San Antonio has a softball team. The University of the Incarnate Word’s team has been around since 1987.
Coach Nicole Dufour touched on her approach going into the doubleheader.
“We just have to learn and get better from everything, good and bad,” Dufour said. “We are only going to do that if we face tough competition.
The Jaguars looked to establish themselves as the new kids on the block. The Jaguars fought hard as the dugout roared, letting their presence be known.
Jaguars Suffer Shutout in Game 1
The game got away from the Jaguars early with the sun not being on the team’s side, causing one dropped fly ball that got sophomore Cardinal Savannah Behabetz on third base. Next, senior Tori Alvarez-Lopez stepped up to the plate and hit a double, allowing the Behabetz to make it across home plate.
The Jaguars weathered the storm on defense until the bottom of the fifth inning, with two Cardinal batters on first and second base made it across home plate due to the third batter sophomore Maddie Bolt fired a home run over the fence, giving the Cardinals a 6-0 lead.
The Cardinals finished the game with a 7-0 shutout over the Jaguars.
The Jaguars Spark A Last Minute Comeback Attempt In Game 2
The Jaguars looked to redeem themselves, but Game 2 started off just as rocky as the first as the Cardinals delivered three early strikeouts in a row.
Adversity swung in at the bottom of the second inning with the Jaguars on defense, allowing four of eight Cardinal batters to cross home plate. The damage could have been much worse considering eight batters were able to hit in just a single inning, but the Jaguars buckled down and stopped the bleeding.
The Jaguars found themselves down 7-0 again going into the top of the sixth inning.
The inning looked out of reach with two early outs until sophomore Vanessa Garces hit her third single of the game down the middle, sparking some momentum. Freshman Penelope Garcia hit a line drive for a single of her own, putting Garces on second base.
Freshman Kameryn Casares hit a huge double over the pitcher’s head, allowing Garces and Garcia to be the first two Jaguars of the evening to cross home plate. Sophomore Gabby Mitchell hit another Jaguar single, allowing Casares to cross home plate for a score of 7-3.
Roars from the dugout came alive as another comeback seemed to be in the works. The momentum continued as freshman Madeline Arellano followed the single hit trend and got to first, putting Mitchell on second.
The energy was at a new high as batter Natalia Guajardo hit a tight line ball down the right side past the Cardinals’ first base. Guajardo sprinted past first base heading to second just as the umpire called a late controversial foul ball.
Guajardo made up for her previous hit as she hit it right down the middle. The Cardinals quickly scooped up the ball and threw it to first for a third out. The Jaguars brought the momentum on defense, generating three quick outs in a row.
In the final inning the Jaguars came up short as the Cardinals pulled through and put the nail on the coffin with the final three outs within four Jaguar batters.
Coach Nicole Dufour reflected on the team’s performance in the final moments of Game 2.
“Our bats woke up, we just woke up a little bit too late and those are just some things you can’t do against a good team like UIW,” Dufour said.
Garces described how the team plans on translating the late spark into the next game Friday.
“We are really excited Coach Nicole uses this momentum,” Garces said. “You know, UIW is a real solid team, so we just got to use that momentum to take it to Jarvis. So, we are really excited for it.”
With two tough losses in one night and a late spark in game 2, the Jaguars look to ignite that same energy at 1 p.m. April 9 against Jarvis Christian in Hawkins.
