March 26, 2016
Final Stats
UTEP 2, FIU 1
UTEP 7, FIU 6
MIAMI, Fla. - It was a good Friday for the UTEP softball team, as a pair of Florida natives helped surge two key victories. The Miners ended a 15-game Conference USA road losing streak, as they defeated FIU 2-1 in game one, while extending their program record five-game league winning streak after a 7-6 game two victory at Felsberg Field at FIU Stadium.
The Miners (14-20, 5-3 C-USA) and Panthers (18-16, 4-4 C-USA) started the day with a two-and-a-half hour lightning delay, as the first contest started at 6:30 p.m. ET. But the delay didn't affect the Miners, as they hit on all facets in the two victories.
Kaitlin Fifield (4-10) won game one, hurling a complete game on 97 pitches. Fifield allowed seven hits, one run, walked only one and tallied five strikeouts. Her five Ks all came during the last four innings of the contest.
"We had two great team wins today," third-year head coach Tobin Echo-Hawk said. "In the first game, Kaitlin did a great job of keeping their offense in check. All day we really played well defensively."
Danielle Pearson (5-5), a native of Orlando followed with a triumph, while winning her third consecutive outing, a career high.
"In the second game, we just kept fighting and found a way to win," Echo-Hawk added. "Danielle got into some trouble during the night, but was able to force big outs to get out of innings."
The Miners also matched their win total (14) from 2015 after the game two victory.
UTEP 2, FIU 1
Courtney Clayton and Orlando native Kawehiokalani Netane, a teammate of Pearson in high school, connected on solo home runs, while Kiki Pepi's glove was a hoover at third base. Pepi recorded a school record nine assists.
FIU got on the board first in the second inning on a Jackie Schoff two-out single on a 3-1 pitch with bases loaded, but Fifield forced an Ashley Leon fly out to shallow left to end any sort of rally.
The Miners answered in the following frame when Clayton connected on her fifth long ball, a one-out solo shot over left center on a 1-0 pitch. After a 1-2-3 fourth, Netane led off the fifth with her fifth jack of the season, another UTEP solo shot on a 3-1 pitch.
Fifield cruised the rest of the way, as she retired nine consecutive batters, including back-to-back innings where Panther hitters went three up and three down in innings three and four. In the fifth, Fifield forced a groundout and struck out a hitter, before allowing two consecutive singles to Leon and Stephanie Texeira. But Gabby Spallone hit into a fielder's choice, as Texeira was thrown out at second.
In the sixth, Fifield forced three consecutive groundouts to Pepi. In the seventh, after a Kaitlyne Musa strikeout, Aleima Lopez singled to get the game-tying run on. But Fifield tallied K no. 5 against Schoff and Leon grounded out to Pepi, who recorded assist no. 9.
UTEP tallied eight hits including three doubles. Clayton led the charge on a 3-for-4 effort with her 13th double, while Hope Moreno went 2-for-3 with a double. Defensively, Moreno registered 13 putouts. Pearson added her third double of the season and Pepi chipped in with a single.
The Miners defeated Panthers' star freshman pitcher Megan Kugelmann (6-3), who entered the contest with two losses and a 1.84 ERA in 45.2 innings. Kugelmann had won co-pitcher of the week three consecutive weeks, including being named co-POW with Fifield on Feb. 29.
UTEP 7, FIU 6
In a back-and-forth contest, the Miners jumped out on the Panthers 4-0 in the first inning, highlighted by a Pepi four-bagger.
In the first, Kaitlin Ryder singled to right with one out that set up Pepi's sixth home run and second against a conference foe in the last few weeks. With two outs, Moreno reached first on a short single over the left infield, followed with a Pearson single up the middle. Netane put two more runs on the board on a double to deep left center, but was thrown out at third to end the top half.
FIU answered with a pair of runs in the home half and took the lead, 5-4, with a trio of runs in the second inning, highlighted by a Texeira two-run double.
The Miners claimed the lead again in the third. Taylor Sargent and Moreno connected on back-to-back singles followed with a Pearson sac-bunt that advanced the runners to second and third. With two outs, Linda Garcia tallied a one-run single to second, scoring Sargent, while a throwing error by the second baseman paved the way for Moreno to cross the dish, giving UTEP a 6-5 advantage.
In the fourth, FIU would tie the contest 6-6. With Texeira reaching third off a Spallone double, Dani Mowry reached on an error that allowed Texeira to reach home.
In the fifth, starting pitcher Pearson crossed home plate for the go-ahead lead. After two quick outs, Pearson used plate patience to walk on a 3-1 count. Netane followed with a single on a hard shot that took a wicked bounce and hit the third baseman in the chin, advancing Pearson to second. Garcia would tally her second RBI of the contest and give her squad the lead for good on another hard shot, this time up the middle that ricocheted off the second base bag.
Pearson would go on to retire the next six Panther hitters in the fifth and sixth frames (seven overall going back to the fourth inning). UTEP got runners on in the sixth and seventh, but couldn't advance the insurance runs to home.
In the home half of the seventh, Spallone singled to lead off, while Mowry used a sac-bunt to advance the tying run in scoring position. A.J. Belans popped out to second base for the second out. Deven Kennedy, on a 2-2 pitch, singled to get runners at the corners. With Erin Eiland up, Kennedy stole second, but Pearson forced a groundout to first base to end the contest.
UTEP tallied 13 hits in the second game. Clayton registered her league-leading 14th double, while Netane also recorded a double (4). UTEP, after the two contest, leads conference with 46 doubles, while its 28 long balls ranks no. 2 behind North Texas (29).
Up Next
UTEP will look to sweep FIU on Saturday in the series finale at 1 p.m. ET. If the sweep is achieved, it will only be the second time in program history the Miners will take a three-game series against a conference foe on the road. UTEP swept LA Tech in Ruston in 2014, Echo-Hawk's first season as head coach with the Orange and Blue.
