By: Kaleb Center, CSC Sports Information Director
LUBBOCK, Texas – February 8, 2020 – Chadron State College senior outfielder Angelica Maples hit three home runs Saturday, including a three-RBI shot against Texas-Permian Basin's top returning pitcher from 2019, as the Eagles clipped the Falcons 13-2 but fell 10-5 to Oklahoma Baptist University in Lubbock.
Maples hit solo homers in both games as well. She finished the day 3-for-7 with five RBI and three runs scored.
CSC scored its first two runs of the day on solo homers after OBU grabbed a 3-0 lead in the second. Bison pitcher Katie Long struck out four of the first six Eagles batters, before Maples caught her to lead off the third inning.
Leading off the fourth, CSC freshman third baseman Sloane Quijas repeated the feat, and the game was tied three batters later, when freshman Mackenzi Kroll sacrificed junior Alyx Gragg forward and senior Allie Mason singled her home to make it 3-3.
OBU used a pair of home runs and a CSC error to break the game open in the bottom of the fourth, going 6-for-9 in the inning and claiming a 10-3 advantage.
Kroll's two-run shot in the sixth, which plated Gragg making it 10-5, was the only other time the Eagles managed to score. It was a second consecutive game in which Kroll, who pinch-hit for Bailey Rominger on Friday, managed to put a pitch over the wall.
Junior Tia Kohl took her second loss in as many days for the Eagles, while Aspen Younce, entering a tie game in the fourth, was credited the win for the Bison.
CSC fared much better in the latter half of the day, when Gragg's RBI single in the first inning against UTPB, and her two-run homer in the second, provided all the offense needed in a 13-2 afternoon romp.
Gragg batted 4-for-4 in the win, finishing the day 6-of-8 with five runs scored to lead Chadron State.
Freshman DeAnna Barrera scattered four hits over six innings and struck out eight, leading the Eagles to victory for the second time in as many tries. Permian Basin Freshman Abby Cousins took her first loss of the season.
Highlights from the second game include two of Maples' three home runs on the day, as well as the Eagles' final two at-bats, when everyone in the first seven batting slots got at least one base hit, and CSC piled up nine runs to end the game in the sixth.
CSC concludes its Lubbock trip with two more contests on Sunday.
The Eagles, who are now 2-2 after two days, play Southern Nazarene University at 11 a.m. MT. They conclude with a non-conference game against the University of Colorado Colorado Springs at 1 p.m. That final contest was added at the last minute to replace a cancelled matchup with Eastern New Mexico.