February 13, 2013
The Lady Eagles won four of five games over the weekend as they were in action in the Cowtown Tournament in Fort Worth. NTCC improved to 5-4 this season as the Eagles picked up wins over Rose State, Eastern Oklahoma, Connors State and Western Oklahoma.
?Things finally started clicking for our offense and we were able to put the ball in play,? Eagle head coach Jessica Keith said. ?Some of the games got a little to close for comfort at the end, but we played well overall.?
A six-run third inning was the difference for the Eagles in the opening game of the Tournament Friday as NTCC picked up a 9-7 win over Rose State. The Eagles trailed 5-0 heading into the bottom of third before the offensive explosion.
The Eagles sent 11 batters to the plate in the inning as Jessica Garza, Kix Hutchins and Alizabeth Autrey each had doubles in the inning to help give NTCC the lead.
Rose State came back with two unanswered runs to regain the lead but the Eagles added one more in the fifth and two in the sixth to earn the win.
The Eagles were unable to overcome six errors in the second game of the day Friday as they fell to Western Texas, 8-4. NTCC fell behind early in the contest and never recovered as Western Texas got the win.
?We really should have been in that game against Western,? Keith said. ?Our defense just committed too many errors to keep it close.?
It was the Eagles who jumped out to an early lead in the opening game of the day Saturday as NTCC picked up a 7-5 win over Connors State. Autrey led the Eagles with a pair of doubles and three RBI as NTCC jumped out to a 7-0 lead after five innings.
Connors made a strong comeback late in the contest but it was not enough as the Eagles got the win.
Another early-game offensive push led to a win for the Eagles later in the day Sunday as NTCC downed Western Oklahoma, 6-5.
Amanda Shirley got the Eagle offense started with a leadoff single in the first inning and later scored on a double by Moulder. Autrey then put the Eagles up 3-0 with a two-run home run and Jessica Garza followed with a solo shot of her own to give NTCC a 4-0 lead after one inning.
The Eagles added two more runs in the fifth and held off a late charge by Western Oklahoma to pick up the win.
NTCC finished out the tournament with win Sunday afternoon as the Eagles downed Eastern Oklahoma, 5-2.
Again, it was Shirley who got the Eagle offense rolling with a single to lead off the game before Moulder put NTCC up 2-0 with a home run. The Eagles led 3-0 in the sixth when Brittany Avila picked up a single and later scored on a single by Chelsea Faglie to put NTCC up 4-0.
The Eagles tacked on one more run in the seventh as Moulder led off with a single, Garza doubled and Taylor King followed with an RBI single.
With the wins, the Eagles improved to 5-4 this season. The Eagles will be back in action Saturday as they play at North Central Texas College in Gainesville. The Eagles will be home for four straight games next week as they host Eastern Oklahoma Tuesday and Angelina College Wednesday.
