ODESSA, Texas – The Rogers State softball team dominated game one of a Heartland Conference doubleheader winning 8-2 at Texas-Permian Basin before falling 6-5 in the finale despite a late charge Friday night at UTPB Softball Field.
 
GAME ONE
The Hillcats belted 11 hits on their way to an 8-2 win in the opening game of the Friday twin bill as five different players had multi-hit performances.
 
The teams traded runs in the first inning and RSU broke the game open, 5-1, behind a four-run second. Makenzie Kirk started the frame singling and later scored on an error as the Cats capitalized on two UTPB miscues. Cailin Simpson provided the only RBI of the inning scoring Malori Moss on a single.
 
Carley Conley and Bailee Kaderka drove in runs on singles in the fourth but RSU left the bases loaded with a chance for the run-rule decision as it stranded 10 for the game. It was Conley again delivering an RBI for the Hillcats in the fifth with a triple that plated Simpson from first for an 8-1 advantage.
 
The Falcons got one run back in the bottom of the seventh but were held in check by Kaderka. The junior pitched the complete game win surrendering just two runs on six hits with three strikeouts. Holly Herrington (2-17) took the loss for UTPB allowing eight runs, four earned, in five innings.
 
GAME TWO
The Hillcats fell behind early in the nightcap and made a furious rally in the final two innings but ultimately fell 6-5 for a Friday split.
 
UTPB got three singles in the second inning off Kaderka leading to a 2-0 advantage before adding a third run in the fourth scoring on a wild pitch. The Hillcats recorded one hit in four of the first five innings but only put a runner into scoring position in the second and fourth frames.
 
A three-run fifth doubled the Falcons' lead to 6-0 before RSU battled back finally breaking through. In the top of the sixth, Randye Sharpe hit a lead-off single to center and came around to cross the plate on Jamie Kowalick's RBI double. Conley traded places with Kowalick plating the second run of the inning closing the gap to 6-2.
 
Down to their final out in the top of the seventh, the Hillcats continued to claw back behind a Moss home run to left center. Sharp reached on her second single of the game and Kowalick added to her impressive game sending a pitch over the fence in right for her first home run as a Hillcat making it a 6-5 ballgame. Simpson kept the inning alive drawing a walk as the potential tying run. The senior moved to second on a single from Conley, her third hit of the game, before a Falcons' pitching change stopped the RSU rally short winning the one-run contest.
 
Kaderka (6-14) suffered the loss for the Hillcats allowing six runs, four earned, in five innings while Jessica Christian threw the final inning. Kim Alonzo (4-7) picked up the win for UTPB going 6.2 innings until Herrington earned the save with the final out.
 
Rogers State (12-24, 8-14 HC) closes the weekend series with the Falcons Saturday as the decisive third game is set for a 12 p.m. first pitch.