LUBBOCK, Texas – The Southern Nazarene University softball team opened their 2020 season on Friday at the Lubbock Christian Invitational with a pair of victories against Colorado State-Pueblo 8-6, and a dominant 11-3 win over St. Edward's.
 
The Crimson Storm (2-0) had their bats going all day as they racked up 19 total hits throughout the day. Nobody had a better day at the plate than Caitlyn Curlee, who finished the day going 3-for-6 with three home runs and six RBI's. Senior Brooklyn Sparkman got the start in the circle in the season opener against the Wolves (0-1). She tossed 4.0 innings and allowed four runs on eight hits while striking out four CSPU hitters. Madi Arnold came on in relief and secured her first win as she allowed two hits and two unearned runs in 2.2 innings of work. Chelsea Vandiver came on in the top of the seventh and earned her first save of her career with SNU.
 
Jacey James kicked off her senior season campaign in a big way as she led the way at the plate going 4-for-5 with four RBI's and two runs scored. She also added the only double hit by Storm hitters. Both Caitlyn Curlee and Hailie Fellers got their seasons off on the right foot as well as the pair each notched their first home runs of the game, both solo-homers. Mahina Sauer went 1-for-3 with an RBI while Peyton Robinson was perfect at the plate, going 2-for-2 with two runs scored. Brooklyn Sullivan and Morgan Brannon each added a hit while Raegan Roten had a run scored.
 
Sauer got the party started in the bottom of the first as her single scored James to give SNU the early 1-0 lead. The Storm added to that lead in the bottom of the second when James ripped a single up the middle that scored Robinson and Roten to push their lead to 3-0. The Wolves came back in the top of the third and cut the lead to 3-1 before later added three more runs in the top of the fifth to take a 4-3 lead.
 
That lead didn't last long as the Southern Nazarene bats caught fire in the bottom of the fifth. Curlee and Fellers led the inning off with back to back solo home runs to give SNU the 5-4 lead, followed by James' double that scored Robinson and Sullivan to make it 7-4. James later scored on a wild pitch to extend it to 8-4 heading into the final two innings. Colorado St.-Pueblo tried to make it interesting in the top of the seventh by scoring two runs, but Vandiver closed the door on the Wolves, giving SNU its first victory of the season.
 
Chelsea Vandiver got the start in the nightcap game against St. Edwards (1-1) as she earned her first win of the season. She pitched 4.2 innings and allowed just two runs on six hits while striking out two Hilltopper batters. Courtney Cox came on in relief and pitched 1.1 innings and allowed just two hits.
 
The bats got going once again for Southern Nazarene as they racked up eight hits and scored five runs in the top of the seventh to put the game out of reach for St. Edward's. Caitlyn Curlee picked up right where she left off in the opener as she went 2-for-2 with an eye-popping five RBI's, three runs scored, and two home runs. Curlee now has three home runs through two games played. Hailie Fellers also had another fantastic game as the sophomore went 2-for-3 with three RBI's, one run scored, and one home run as well, the second of the day for her.
 
Natalie Jones went 2-for-3 with one run scored in her first game in an SNU uniform while Skye Ah Yat launched her first home run of the year, and also went 2-for-4 in the game. Kai Sanchez went 1-for-1 with two runs scored while Jacey James also scored a run.
 
Southern Nazarene didn't waste any time against St. Edward's as they took an early 2-0 lead in the top of the first. They later added on to that lead in the top of the third with three more runs to push their lead to 5-0. The Hilltoppers responded in the bottom of the third with two runs to make it 5-2, before the Crimson Storm tacked on another run in the fifth to extend it to 6-2. SNU added five more runs in the top of the seventh to balloon their lead to 11-2 before the Hilltoppers got one run coming home, but it wasn't enough as the Storm won their second straight game of the day in Lubbock.
 
The Crimson Storm are back in action tomorrow for day two of the LCU Invitational at 12:15 p.m. against Fort Hays State and 4:45 p.m. against Eastern New Mexico.