EL PASO, TEXAS – The University of the Incarnate Word softball team opened the 2016 season on the road at UTEP with a doubleheader on Thursday.  They won the opener, 4-1 before losing the night cap, 13-3 at Helen of Troy Field.

The Cardinals (1-1) rode the strong arm of junior Bridget Stein (Brenham/Brenham HS) in the first game of the doubleheader.  She allowed just one hit and one walk through the first five innings.  In the bottom of the sixth inning, she lost her shutout on a solo home run by Courtney Clayton.  She got back on track after that and finished with a complete game victory allowing three hits and two walks while striking out four.

The Cardinals scored unearned runs in the second and third innings.  In the sixth inning, they tacked on two more runs to push their lead to 4-0.  Natali Duron (Pasadena/Memorial HS) led the offense going 2-for-3 with a double and a run scored.  Alex Alonzo (San Antonio/Smithson Valley HS) had an RBI double and Kellen Robles (San Antonio/Smithson Valley HS) had a single and drove in two runs.  Kaitlin Fifield tossed a complete game for UTEP allowing six hits, one earned run and four walks while striking out seven in taking the loss.

In the second game, the Miners (1-1) exploded for 11 runs in the second inning en route to a 13-3 win.  They smacked five home runs in the first two innings.  The Cardinals put runners in scoring position in each of the first four innings, but were not able to prevent the run-rule loss.

UTEP finished the game with 17 hits, including four by Clayton who was 4-for-4 with three runs, four RBI's and a home run.  Kaitlin Ryder went 3-for-3 with three runs, two RBI's and a home run.  Kiki Pepi added a pair of home runs and drove in five.  Taylor Grohmann picked up the win in the pitching circle tossing 3.0 innings while allowing four hits, one run and one walk while striking out two.

The Cardinals had seven hits in the contest.  Victoria Bratcher (Colleyville/Colleyville Heritage HS) went 2-for-3 with a double and two RBI's while Samantha Mendoza (Fresno, CA/Washington Union HS) went 2-for-2 with a run scored.  Kristin Hebert (Humble/Atascocita HS) took the loss after allowing 10 hits and four runs in 3.1 innings of work.

The Cardinals are back in action on Friday and Saturday at the New Mexico State tournament.
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