Northern Colorado softball sweeps Weber State in Big Sky doubleheader

Erin Caviness threw a three-hitter in a 9-1 win in Game 1, and the Northern Colorado softball team rallied for a 3-2 victory in Game 2 on Friday to earn a Big Sky Conference sweep over Weber State at Gloria Rodriguez Field in Greeley.

The visiting Wildcats (5-3 Big Sky, 17-20 overall) began the day on top of the conference standings.

Northern Colorado, which was in second place in the Big Sky, didn’t waste any time taking charge. The Bears (6-2, 21-19) scored in the bottom of the first inning of Game 1 on a two-run home run by sophomore designated player Ella Gonzales.

Gonzales had three hits, five RBI and two runs scored in the first game, and Bears pounded out 11 hits in support of Caviness. The senior pitcher from Thornton allowed one run on the three hits with six strikeouts to record her 12th win of the season. Amailee Morales’s solo home run in the third gave UNC a 3-0 lead.

Seven UNC players had at least one hit in Game 2 as the Bears scored all three runs in the third and fourth innings after falling behind 2-0. UNC had eight hits in the victory including six extra-base hits.

Alyssa Wenzel had two hits in each game including a double and a triple in Game 2. Morales, Gonzales, Sabrina Javorsky and Nya Chacon also doubled.

Ali Steinker’s third-inning single tied the second game 2-2. Weber State went ahead with a run in both the first and second innings. Quinn Myers-Lenz collected the game-winning RBI for UNC on a fourth-inning ground out allowing Wenzel to score.

The teams wrap up the series with one game starting at noon Saturday.