Hillcats Register Opening Day Sweep Over Bacone

The Rogers State softball team opened the 2013 season with a doubleheader sweep over Bacone (Okla.) on Wednesday afternoon in Muskogee, Okla.

The Hillcats started the day with a 14-0 win in five innings and topped it off with a 9-0 run-rule victory over the Warriors in the night cap. RSU banged out 28 hits in the twin bill, including a trio of home runs.

GAME ONE

The Hillcats scored early and often in the first game of the twin bill. Candace Monigold got the offense started in the first frame with a RBI triple down the left field line. Katrina Loy followed with a double off the right-centerfield wall to send Monigold home. Yolanda Rios rounded out the scoring in the inning with a RBI double off the right field wall.

Kelli Costello led off the bottom of the first for the Lady Warrior and registered a single. She moved into scoring position on a pass ball but that was as close as she would get as Rios retired the next three batters.

RSU registered two more runs in the second thanks to a pair of Bacone errors and a RBI single by Monigold while the Hillcats retired the side in the bottom half of the inning.

After a scoreless third the Hillcats piled on four runs in the fourth with a two RBI double by Loy and a two-run home run by Shona Guerrero.

The Cats sealed the win with a five-run fifth. Cailin Simpson drove in Katie Ellington with a single up the middle, Monigold tallied her second RBI triple of the game, Loy registered a RBI double and Rios rounded out the scoring with a two RBI triple.

Rios led the offense for RSU, going 4-for-4 at the plate while registering the win in the circle for the Cats.

The right-handed pitcher tossed four innings, allowing just two hits with six strikeouts. Laura Fleck tossed the final inning for the Hillcats while Taylor Paulson was tagged with the loss for the Lady Warriors allowing 15 hits, 14 runs with 12 of them earned.

GAME TWO

RSU's bats stayed hot in the night cap as they tallied nine runs on 13 hits in their second short-game win of the day over the Lady Warriors.

The Hillcats tallied one or more runs in each of the five innings. RSU opened the game with three runs on four hits in the first frame. RSU added a run in the second frame with a RBI single by Monigold.

After retiring the side in the bottom of the second, RSU registered a pair of runs in the top of the third as Ashlie Fauchier doubled down the left field line to bring Taran Threet and Guerrero home.

Simpson laced a solo homer over the scoreboard in centerfield in the top of the fourth while Ellington belted a two-run home run over the centerfield fence in the fifth to complete the scoring for RSU.

Rios (2-0) earned the win in the night cap as she registered four innings of work in the circle, allowing two hits while fanning two. Fleck tossed the scoreless fifth and Lucy Walters was tagged with the loss in the circle for Bacone.

Rios and Monigold led the offensive attack in the doubleheader each going 5-for-7 on the afternoon. Rios tallied one double and one triple with four RBIs while Monigold drove in five runs and tallied a pair of triples.

Rogers State (2-0) returns to action on Sunday as the Hillcats host William Woods (Mo.) in a doubleheader slated for 12 p.m. at the Diamond Sports Complex.