Conquistadors Split a Pair on Sunday with Hesston

The Conquistadors took a trip to Bess Mullet Field in Hesston, Kansas to take on the Hesston College Larks and left with a 1-1 record on the afternoon.

Dodge City dropped game one by a score of 10-8 but battled back to take game two by evoking the run rule and winning 11-2.

"I thought we played very well defensively for our first game on dirt since Mid-October," said head coach Howie Smith. "I was very concerned about the adjustment from turf to dirt, especially with only one day of practice on dirt, but our players handled it as well as I could have expected. We are starting to understand that every at-bat in a game is important and that each at-bat may constitute an adjustment to the previous at-bat. We did a better job of hitting with runners in scoring position and the 8 spot we put up in the 2nd inning of the 2nd game was critical.  We followed that up with a 3 run 3rd, and with the way Mak [Makayla Kolojay] was throwing the ball, the 11 runs were plenty enough for the run-rule."

The Conquistadors move to 4-2 on the season as they open up KJCCC play on Thursday, March 11^th at Legends Park against the Colby Trojans.
 

Game One | 10-8 L

The first game featuring 18 runs scored didn't quite fall the Conqs way as they fell 10-8. After trading the lead several times in the first three innings, the Larks took the lead for good in a five-run fourth inning to take a 9-6 lead.

Down 10-6 heading into their last inning in the batters' box, the Conquistadors were able to bring in two runs before the game ended on a Carolina Stephenson fly ball to left field.

Fresh off her NJCAA Pitcher of the Week nod, freshman Danika Utajara took the mound in game one, giving up 11 hits and nine runs over her 3.1 innings pitched as she picked up her first loss on the season. Offensively, the Conquistadors saw Utajara (2-2), Daysha Mendez, Destiny Saldivar (2-3), AJ Poell (2-3), and Makayla Garcia (2-4) all rack up multiple hits for the game. Mendez led the Conqs with a 3-5 outing at the plate, including a homerun.

Game Two | 11-2 W

Paced by an eight-run second inning, the Conquistadors cruised to an 11-2 run rule victory to close out their afternoon at Bess Mullet Field.

Makayla Kolojay got the start in game two, allowing two runs on four hits with seven strikeouts in her five innings pitched.

Offensively, the Conqs were led by AJ Poell's 3-4 outing with three RBIs and a homerun. However, Kolojay (3-4), Kalei Villegas (2-2), Destiny Saldivar (2-4), and Jordan Irwin (2-4) all produced multiple hits for the game. Defensively, the Conqs were flawless in the field as they didn't commit a single error in the five innings.