Jags complete season sweep of TAMUSA on Senior Day
Kenzie Chambers experienced a different role on Tuesday with the UHV softball team.
From the second spot in the Jaguars' lineup, the junior catcher is normally asked to get on base and hopefully into scoring position.
She did that with five hits in a Red River Athletic Conference doubleheader with Texas A&M-San Antonio. But the Grand Prairie native also delivered two RBIs in each game to help UHV sweep the day 8-0 and 5-0.
"That's huge," said head coach Lindsey Ortiz. "She's already such a huge tool. But, I think it was the third time up with runners in scoring position and I said, 'Man, she's an RBI machine today!' For her to add that element to her repertoire, which is already huge, that's a big day and that takes pressure off the rest of our lineup."
Entering Tuesday, Chambers led the RRAC with a .481 batting average and bumped that number up to an even .500 after going 5-for-7. But she had only 14 RBIs in the previous 26 games for UHV (24-8, 12-8).
The top third of UHV's lineup of Leighton, Chambers and Kaylle Lopez went 5-for-20 with a combined seven RBIs and eight runs scored as the Jaguars completed a season sweep of TAMUSA (21-13, 7-9).
"I think it just depends on what (Madysin Leighton) does (as leadoff)," Chambers said. "I'm playing off what Mady does. Other than that, I'm just trying to do what the team needs me to do. Today, I had a lot of opportunities with runners in scoring position to drive them in."
Cameron Cowan earned her 12th win of the season after throwing a complete game in Game 1 with only six hits over six innings of work. She now has 47 in her career, which is one off Emily Bergstrom's record set in 2010-2012.
It was the seventh win of the season for sophomore Anyssia Mendoza, who allowed only two hits in four innings of work in Game 2.
But it was the performance by Eryn Sanchez that stood out. The sophomore from Spring picked up her first save of the year by throwing a strong three innings in which she allowed only one hit to close out Game 2.
"It's awesome being a part of this staff where we have so much variety and many different pitching styles," Sanchez said. "It's exciting to see what we all do once we get out there. I have so much confidence in my teammates. I know when we're called upon, we're going to do the job."
It was just the fourth pitching appearance of the season for Sanchez and the first since March 2 when she threw four innings of one-run softball. She's primarily played third base since then.
"That was a huge performance for her," Ortiz said. "It's been a minute since she's been on the mound. She's continued to work hard while playing third base. I felt like it was a good matchup and she just came in and executed on a level that I'm very impressed with and excited for us to maybe pour a little bit more into. She did a great job today."
After the game, seniors Leighton, Cowan, Cameron Steen and Alana Ortega were recognized by the UHV softball team for their contributions to the program.
The Jaguars head on the road for doubleheaders against Jarvis Christian, on Friday, and Texas College, on Saturday.
