BENTONVILLE, Ark. – The Rogers State softball team used a walk-off solo home run from De'Leigh Emarthle to get the second win on Saturday as the Hillcats won two games on day two of the UAM 8-State Classic at Memorial Park. RSU picked up a 6-1 victory over Concordia-St. Paul in game one, and then used the walk-off homer to defeat Rockhurst, 4-3.
 
The two wins extends the Cats' winning streak to eight straight, the longest winning streak for RSU softball since 2013 when the navy and red started the season with 30 straight victories.
 
Rogers State 6, Concordia-St. Paul 1
 
The navy and red started the day with a 6-1 victory over Concordia in the morning.
 
With the top of the lineup batting in the third inning, RSU took advantage by scoring three runs. Katelyn Gamble led off the inning with a single through the infield, and Morgen Blanchard made it back-to-back singles to put two on base. Emarthle worked a walk to load the bases with no outs. Kayla Patterson got hit by a pitch to bring in the first run as she was hit three times in the game. After a groundout to score one run, Mikayla Waggnor doubled to left to plate the final run of the inning for an early 3-0 margin.
 
The Hillcats poured on three more runs in the fourth inning to increase the lead to 6-0. Harli Wheeler started the inning with a bunt single. A walk from Blanchard put two runners on, and Emarthle drove in one run with an infield single. The final two runs came on a double to the gap in left by Ali Turner for a 6-0 score.
 
Concordia tallied its lone run on a solo home run in the sixth inning for the 6-1 final tally.
 
In her first appearance of the season, senior Mayra Helguera was superb in the circle. The San Bernardino, Calif. native went 5.1 innings and gave up only four hits and the one earned run to move to 1-0 on the season. Freshman Edie Fairchild came in to pitch the final 1.2 innings in relief and allowed only one hit.
 
Waggnor went 2-for-4 with one RBI. Turner finished 1-for-4 with one RBI. Seven Hillcats registered a hit as the Cats totaled eight in the game.
 
Rogers State 4, Rockhurst 3
 
Emarthle hit a solo walk-off homer in the bottom of the seventh inning to get the 4-3 win against Rockhurst. The solo shot was hit so far it landed on top of the batting cages in centerfield.
 
The Hillcats had built a 3-0 edge after five innings. After loading the bases, Megan Scott showed patience at the plate and worked a walk for a 1-0 score in the fourth inning.
 
RSU took advantage of two RU errors in the fifth inning to increase the margin to 3-0. Kayla Patterson reached due to an error and Arika Araujo brought Patterson home with an RBI single. An error by the Rockhurst shortstop allowed Kenzi Lloyd to make it 3-0 as she scored.
 
The Falcons tied the score at 3-3 in the sixth when they totaled three runs. A single opened the scoring, and a two-run double to left center evened the score at 3-3.
 
Megan Roswell started in the circle, pitching the complete 7.0 innings. She allowed only five hits with the three runs. The junior moved to 7-1 on the season.
 
Araujo went a perfect 2-for-2 hitting with one RBI.  
 
The Hillcats end their weekend at the 8-State Classic with Washburn tomorrow (Feb. 19) morning at 9 a.m. at Memorial Park. Live stats will be available on the Hillcat Network at www.rsuhillcats.com/live.