After a strong showing in Santa Barbara last week, the Redhawks (14-22, 0-3 WAC) dropped all three games against defending league champion New Mexico State (23-16, 3-0 WAC).
Seattle University’s offense never came around as they failed to score during the weekend series due in part to dominant performances by the NMSU pitching staff.
The Redhawks appeared to be trending in the right direction after three wins at the Gaucho Classic, but their offense never clicked against the Aggies. As conference play continues they will have to find some ways to score runs.
The Friday game was cut short after the Aggies invoked the mercy rule—which states that the game will end when one team is leading by eight runs after five complete innings. After a stellar performance last weekend, junior pitcher Alyssa Reuble never found her bearings, surrendering five runs in 3.1 innings with no strikeouts and walking two. She was able to hold them to two runs through the first three innings, but the Aggies broke the game wide open with a 10 run fourth inning that would end the game in the fifth—handing the Redhawks a 0-12 loss. The Redhawks managed just three hits during the game. Aggies second baseman Brennalyn Nakamura whacked a grand slam and Makayla McAdams picked up the win.
While the next game was closer, the offense still picked up just three hits in the 0-2 losing effort. Freshman pitcher Andie Larkins delivered one of her best efforts of the season, but still picked up the loss. Larkins struck out two and gave up just two runs on four hits, but it’s hard to win when the bats aren’t making contact. Kayista Donisthorpe picked up the win with a dominant performance, pitching a complete game while striking out seven. The Aggies scored both of their runs in the second inning and never looked back.
In the second part of the double header the Aggies won once again, this time 5-0. Reuble took the mound for the second straight day and still couldn’t get comfortable, yielding five runs on 10 hits. The Redhawks were only able to get four hits on the day.
Senior Isabella Geronimo led the Redhawks at the plate going 2-for-5 throughout the double header. She has now has at least one hit in 10 of her last 11 games. She will need to keep the hot hitting up in order for Seattle U to succeed moving forward.
Despite the losses this weekend, the team must keep looking forward. Conference play has just started and there is still time to turn it around before the WAC Tournament. This was a good test of where the team is at compared to the reigning Western Atlantic Conference champion.
The Redhawks come home this weekend to play three games against Grand Canyon at Logan Field.
Willy may be reached at [email protected]
