By NICK VILLALOBOS
Editor-in-Chief
The opening weekend of the Ranger’s softball season did not go to plan as they dropped their opening four in San Angelo, Texas.
Play began Friday against the Angelo State Rambelles at Mayer field. It was the Rangers head coach Charlie Zeilman’s first start with Northwestern after arriving last summer.
Friday’s day of play featured a double-header with the Rambelles and the Adams State Grizzlies.
The Rambelles entered the match at home ranked No. 2 in the Lone Star Conference. The Rangers entered ranked ninth in the Great American Conference preseason poll.
The Rangers struggled in game one, managing zero offense and getting shutout 0-6 against Angelo State.
In game two, the Rangers faces Adams State and earned their first runs of the season. The first coming in the first inning, when Ranger Amber Mills scored following a ground out by teammate Stephanie Couser.
The Rangers managed the 1-0 lead through the fifth inning, but Adams State would get things firing in the sixth inning.
Entering the sixth inning, Ranger pitcher Jalena Arthur kept the Grizzlies off the board. A single from the Grizzlies, however, would score the first of six runs in the inning for Adams State.
The Rangers did manage to score another run in the seventh inning, when Madison McGraw crossed the plate after Couser reached base on a fielder’s choice. The late score was too little, too late for the Red-and-Black.
The Grizzlies bested the Rangers with an unfortunate 6-2 final score.
Entering day two, the Rangers faced the Texas A&M-International Dustdevils and Angelo State once more.
Northwestern’s offense put their day one struggles behind them as play started against the Dustdevils in game one on Saturday.
The scoring started early for the Rangers as in the first inning Mills, Couser and McGraw scored.
The Rangers did surrender their lead in the next inning, but a two-run home run from senior Caitlin Coody propelled them back out front of the Dustdevils, 5-4. The lead did not hold up, however, as the Rangers defense gave up seven runs over a span of four innings.
The Red-and-Black did manage to add on two more runs late, but the Dustdevils held on, taking the game 11-7.
In the final game of the weekend, the Ranges faced the Rambelles once again.
Despite jumping out to a 4-2 lead over Angelo State in the second inning, the Rambelles came charging back in the third, fourth and fifth innings as they scored runs.
The Rangers did score three runs in the fifth closing the deficit to one, but a late score in the sixth inning by the Rambelles would silence a Ranger comeback, leaving them on the losing side once again, this time with a final score of 7-12.
“We had a lot of energy and fight in every game,” Ranger senior, Taylor Watham said following her last opening weekend in her college career. “I think that’s going to help us work through the problems we face.”
Northwestern (0-4, 0-0) will be back on the road this weekend in Bentonville, Arkansas.