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Kansas City
New Mexico State
Kelley?s Two Homers Not Enough as UMKC Falls to NMSU, 5-4
4/29/2016 6:55:00 PM | Softball
Box Score
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The UMKC softball team fell to New Mexico State on Friday afternoon at Missouri 3&2 Field in Kansas City, Missouri, 5-4, despite a two home run performance from senior Katie Kelley.
The Aggies (33-19, 12-1 WAC) jumped on the board early with a first-inning run off sophomore pitcher Amber Grove (12-9) with a single to left field, driving in a leadoff walk.
Grove settled down in the circle, and hung zeroes through the next three innings. After registering a leadoff walk in the bottom of the first, the 'Roos (21-20, 10-3 WAC) struck out in six-straight trips to the plate, and went down in order in the fourth as well, but Grove's pitching was building momentum, and it culminated in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Sophomore Ashlin O'Brien (0-for-1) led off the inning by getting hit by a pitch, bringing Kelley to the plate with no outs. Kelley (2-for-3) took advantage of the 'Roos second baserunner and blasted her seventh home run of the year to give UMKC a 2-1 lead.
The Aggies' pitcher settled in after allowing the two-run shot to sit down the next three batters in order, but not before the damage had been done.
New Mexico State took a run back in the fifth to tie the game with a solo shot, and added another run in the sixth to take the lead, 3-2.
The bottom of sixth inning was like déjà vu for the 'Roos, as O'Brien again led off the inning by being hit by a pitch, and Kelley did what she does best, and hit her second home run of the game to give UMKC the lead back with just one inning to play.
The 'Roos couldn't hang on, however, as the Aggies tallied four hits in the seventh inning to add two runs, and UMKC was unable to get anything going in the bottom half of the frame, and the 'Roos fell to NMSU, 5-4.
Rain in the area altered the weekend's schedule, as game two of the doubleheader was postponed until Saturday. UMKC and NMSU will square off for a doubleheader on Saturday with games slated for 1 and 3 p.m. A Saturday sweep for the 'Roos would give them a share of the conference title and the one-seed in the WAC tournament. T.J. Jackson will call the action on the live audio stream via UMKCKangaroos.com.
