Pack softball bows out of RMAC Tourney

Defense fails T-Wolves in losses to Metro and Adams.

By TRACY RENCK, THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN

ARVADA - This wasn't Friday the 13th, but it might as well have been for the Colorado State University-Pueblo softball team.

The ThunderWolves had a nightmare performance Friday at the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference postseason tournament at Long Lake Park.

The ThunderWolves dropped consecutive games to Metro State (13-5) and Adams State (10-6) to be eliminated from the tourney.

"We got leads in both games and we couldn't hold them," CSU-Pueblo coach Shane Showalter said. "We started making errors and hanging pitches, it was very frustrating."

The Pack, which was the No. 6 seed in the eight-team tourney, ends its season with a 27-24 record. Adams State improved to 34-19 and stays alive in the consolation bracket. Against Adams, Janine Tyler put the Pack ahead 4-0 in the bottom of the second inning with a three-run triple.

The Grizzlies countered with four runs in the third, highlighted by Christina Chavez's solo homer.

Chavez was back in business to do business in the sixth frame when she smacked a three-run home run over the left field fence.

By time the ThunderWolves got out of that inning, the Grizzlies scored six runs on six hits and took a comfortable 10-4 lead.

Brittany Devens had a two-run single in the bottom of the seventh, but the Pack couldn't get any closer.

The morning opener against Metro was a sign of things to come for CSU-Pueblo.

The ThunderWolves were fighting through the cold temperature and gusting wind and took a 3-2 lead in the top of the second when Joelle Rofrano hit a solo homer and Katie Johnson cracked a two-run home run.

In the third frame, CSU-Pueblo stretched its lead to 5-2 on an RBI single by Kristin Krueger and Rofrano's run-scoring fielder's choice.

The Pack, though, couldn't shut down the Roadrunners.

Metro scored five runs in the third and was led led by Sara Rusch's two-run homer and a solo shot by Ashley Johnson.

The Roadrunners were clinging to a 7-5 lead and then CSU-Pueblo collapsed defensively in the fifth, giving up six hits and six more runs.

"We gave up 11 runs with two outs and you're not going to win too many games doing that," Showalter said.

This is the inaugural year of Metro's softball program and the Roadrunners are coached by Jennifer Fisher. She spent the previous eight seasons in La Junta building Otero Junior College's softball team into a powerhouse.

"I'm very proud of the way my girls played," Fisher said. "I really thought we stepped up and played well against CSU-Pueblo."