UTEP softball splits weekend series with Northern Colorado

EL PASO, Texas - After a winless weekend against stiff competition, the UTEP softball team showed plenty of encouragement in splitting a Friday/Saturday series with Northern Colorado.

On a beautiful Saturday afternoon at the UTEP Helen of Troy softball complex, the Miners dropped Game 1 by a score of 10-7 but rebounded nicely to take Game 2 in a pitcher's duel 4-3.

Andress alum Toni Gonzalez had a monster performance in Game 1, with a home run to go along with five RBI's.

Unfortunately, a 9-0 start through the first three innings proved a hole too big to climb out of.

In Game 2, Northern Colorado jumped out to a 3-0 lead but UTEP was able to overcome.

Isabella Kelly gave the Miners a strong 4 2/3 total innings pitched on the day, including a scoreless 1.2 inning in the first game. Kelly started Game 2 for UTEP.

Zaylie Claderon relieved Kelly in Game 2 and pitched a superfluous scoreless four innings for the win.

Kasey Flores' RBI single in the fifth inning of Game 2 proved to be the winning run.

The series split moves UTEP's record to 2-6 on the year in Coach TJ Hubbard's first full season at the helm.

Next up for the Miners is a four-team quad invitational in El Paso starting March 5th, featuring games against Montana, Incarnate Word, and Arizona State.