LUBBOCK, Texas – The Rogers State softball team opened a three-game series at Heartland Conference preseason favorite Lubbock Christian falling twice, 11-6 and 22-8, Friday afternoon at PlainsCapital Park.
 
Ashleigh Stidman led the offense going 3-for-5 at the plate with three RBI, while eight Hillcats recorded at least one run scored in the doubleheader.
 
GAME ONE
The Hillcats had a quick 2-0 lead in the first inning of the opener, but the Lady Chaps scored in all six innings starting the league set with an 11-6 victory.
 
Jamie Kowalick hit a one-out single in the first and Morgen Blanchard followed with a double putting two runners in scoring position. Katlin Alexander opened the scoring with an RBI groundout and Arika Araujo added a run-scoring single as RSU opened a 2-0 lead.
 
The margin was erased in the bottom half of the inning as LCU tallied three doubles in the frame to even the score, 2-2, and tallied two more runs in the second for a 4-2 advantage.
 
RSU put up a four spot in the third regaining the edge, 6-4, as Blanchard started the inning being hit by a pitch. After the next two batters were retired, the Cats got a double from Malori Moss to plate one run and followed with an RBI single off the bat of Stephanie Schivally. Taylor Santistevan continued the two-out rally with a single and Stidman added a two-run double to deep center field.
 
LCU chipped the margin to one in the bottom of the third and used two runs on back-to-back home runs in the fourth for a 7-6 lead. The Lady Chaps continued to add to their advantage on another solo home run in the fifth. Three-straight RBI singles in the sixth padded the 11-6 victory in game one.
 
GAME TWO
Despite scoring eight runs on 11 hits, the Hillcats could not overcome an offensive explosion as LCU posted three innings of at least six runs for a 22-8 win in the doubleheader finale.
 
RSU struck first again in game two as Stidman provided a RBI single in the second inning bringing Araujo home for an unearned run. Katelyn Gamble added a run with a single for a 2-0 lead.
 
Five hits for the Lady Chaps in the second led to an eight-run inning and the home side put up eight more runs in the third on six hits, including a bases-loaded triple, pushing the lead to 16-3.
 
Blanchard gave RSU another run in the fourth after scoring on a wild pitch in the third. The junior hit a two-out, RBI double plating Gamble, who started the rally drawing a walk.
 
LCU tacked on six runs in the bottom of the fourth stretching the margin to 22-4 before the Hillcats struck for four runs in the fifth trying to keep the game alive. Santistevan pulled a two-run single into left scoring Moss and Araujo. Kowalick added a two-run double that nearly cleared the fence in right field sending Santistevan and Randye Sharp across home plate.
 
The late runs could not stop the Lady Chaps from closing out the short-inning game, 22-8, with their most runs scored this season.
 
The Hillcats (8-14 overall, 0-5 HC) close the weekend series with the Lady Chaps Saturday afternoon at 12 p.m.