Schreiner softball split doubleheader against visiting McMurry

Anyssia Mendoza struck out eight batters and surrendered just one earned run across seven complete innings Friday as Schreiner University split a home doubleheader against McMurry, rebounding from an 8-0 opener loss to take the nightcap 3-2.

Mendoza (7-8) was at her sharpest through the evening’s second game, holding the War Hawks to five hits and issuing just one walk. Her 88-pitch complete-game effort — 64 of which found the strike zone — gave the Mountaineers (12-24, 9-17 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference) their first win of the series.

The decisive blow came in the bottom of the third when Brinley Smith lined a two-run double to left field, scoring Julianna Contreras and Isabel Moreno to push Schreiner ahead 3-1. The Mountaineers would not trail again.

McMurry (15-19-1) grabbed the early lead in the top of the first when Reaghan Staehely singled to center field to plate Kaelyn Rodriguez. Schreiner answered in the second as Mercedes Salinas drilled a run-scoring single to right field, evening the score at 1-1.

After Smith’s two-run double gave the Mountaineers a pair of cushion runs, Mendoza made them hold up. She did not allow a runner to score in the fourth, fifth or seventh innings. McMurry’s only other run came unearned in the sixth inning when an error by shortstop Zoe Salinas allowed Shaylee Rodmaker to cross the plate, trimming the deficit to 3-2.

Mendoza retired the War Hawks in order in the seventh to seal it, finishing with eight strikeouts against one walk.

Smith was 2-for-3 at the plate with her team-best two RBI, while Salinas went 2-for-3 and accounted for one RBI. Moreno and Almazan each came around to score for Schreiner, which collected eight hits as a team.

Game 1 Notes

In the opener, McMurry right-hander Rexie Sanders (6-5) was dominant, limiting Schreiner to three hits and no runs across six innings in the run-rule defeat. Sanders did not walk a batter and needed just 56 pitches — 43 for strikes — to dispatch the Mountaineers’ lineup.

Schreiner committed three errors, two of which contributed to a six-run McMurry outburst in the sixth that turned a manageable 3-0 deficit into an 8-0 final. The War Hawks’ Marissa Cardenas went 2-for-4 with two RBI in the opener, while Angelina Kulbeth doubled and drove in a run.

Olivia Montoya (4-9) started for the Mountaineers and pitched four innings, allowing seven hits and three earned runs. Celina Marchan relieved and surrendered five runs — one earned — over two innings as McMurry’s offense capitalized on the miscues.

Schreiner will close the three-game conference series against McMurry on Saturday in Kerrville.