SAINT MARY’S WINS TWICE AT WOLF PACK CLASSIC
RENO, Nev. – The Saint Mary’s softball team swept day one of the Wolf Pack Classic on Sunday with victories over Southern Utah (7-2) and Nevada (9-7, 9). Tiffany Gonzales ended the day with a two-out, two-run homerun to left center in the bottom of the ninth to secure the SMC victory over tournament host Nevada.
“Our offense was very strong in both games today. In the first game, we set the tone early and kept the pressure on the Southern Utah offense.
Britany pitched well and got stronger as the day went along,” said head coach Jessica Hanaseth.
Sophomore Britany Linton recorded two wins on the day to improve to 4-2 on the season, pitching all seven innings against Southern Utah and coming out of the bullpen for 3.1 innings in the extra inning win over Nevada.
In game one against Southern Utah, the SMC bats were hot, scattering 13 hits around Hixson Park, including a triple by Michelle Mounts and homeruns by Megan Smith and Kayla Gonzales.
The Gaels got on the board first in textbook fashion as leadoff hitter Rebecca Sabatini got on with a single then advanced to second on a stolen base with Whitney Heuser at the plate. Heuser advanced Sabatini to third on a groundout to second before M. Smith singled up the middle for the RBI.
Southern Utah got on the board on a double to left center by Makinna Meeks to make it 1-1, but the Gaels broke the tie with a three-run inning off homeruns in the top of the third. After Mandy Camuso flied out to left, K. Gonzales took one deep to right field for her first homerun of her career. With two outs, Heuser singled to right to bring M. Smith to the plate. M. Smith took a 2-2 pitch to left field for the freshman’s first collegiate homerun.
Mounts would add another SMC run to start the fourth inning, driving a triple to right and coming around to score on a throwing error by second baseman Stephanie De Jesus. The Thunderbirds came back to score their final run in the bottom of the fourth on a RBI single by right fielder Ariel Morbeck.
M. Smith and Katherine Delpit started the fifth inning with back-to-back singles, followed by another single by Jenna Smith to make it 6-2. The Gaels would add one more on a sacrifice fly by Jessica Lemmon for a 7-2 SMC final.
Linton pitched her second complete game of the season, giving up five hits and a walk on two earned runs while striking out three. Both Smith’s had multi-hit games against Southern Utah as M. Smith was
3-for-4 from the plate, driving in three RBI’s, and J. Smith was 2-for-4.
Game two featured the Gaels and tournament host Nevada with SMC as the designated home team. With the Gaels down 6-2, SMC came back to tie it up in the bottom of the sixth which would send it into extra innings.
Each team put up a run in the eighth before a scoreless Nevada ninth would set the stage for a Tiffany Gonzales walk-off blast.
“The fight that the team showed to come back after being down 6-2 against Nevada was tremendous. And to cap it off with a walk-off homerun was very fitting,” added Hanaseth.
In the bottom of the ninth, Heuser was placed on second due to the international tiebreaker with the heart of the Gael lineup coming up to the plate. M. Smith lined out to first and Delpit flied out to right, advancing Heuser to third. With two outs, Gonzales went down 0-2 in the count before driving the next pitch to left center for a walk-off celebration at home.
SMC and Nevada traded runs in the first two innings before the Wolf Pack built up a 6-2 lead going into the bottom of the fifth.
Down by four, the Gaels put together a four-run inning to tie it up.
With runners on second and third, T. Gonzales singled to left to score two before J. Smith tripled in T. Gonzales and came around to score on a fielding error by Nevada’s center fielder.
Maryanne Cronin started game two, allowing seven hits on six earned runs. The junior struck out three and walked three before leaving at the start of the fifth. Jessica Lemmon came in for 1.2 innings, giving up two hits before Linton came in to hold of the Wolf Pack for the win.
J. Smith finished 2-for4 with two RBI’s to finish 4-for-8 on the day and T. Gonzales was 2-for-4 at the plate including her first collegiate homerun.
The Gaels return to Hixson Park tomorrow for the final day of the Wolf Pack Classic. SMC will take on the same two teams, taking on Southern Utah at 10:00 a.m. and Nevada at 2:00 p.m. Live stats and audio are available through Nevada’s athletic website at www.nevadawolfpack.com.
CAL STATE BAKERSFIELD SWEEPS UTAH VALLEY
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – Sophomore Sammy Rodriguez (Salinas HS) played a starring role Sunday afternoon, throwing a complete game while driving in the game-winning run in the opener, before adding a pair of doubles in the second game to help the CSUB softball team sweep Utah Valley 4-3 and 8-0 at the Roadrunner Softball Complex.
CSUB improves to 5-8 overall with the sweep while taking the season series from Utah Valley (3-5) three games to one.
The Roadrunner offense showed no signs of slowing following its 11-run, 15-hit performance in Saturday’s second game versus the Wolverines. CSUB pounded out 10 extra base hits Sunday, including a school record-tying six doubles in game two. The ’Runners equaled the six doubles they hit in a win over San Francisco State on Mar. 21, 1999.
The first game was delayed for more than 20 minutes when UVU catcher Shaylyn Varney dislocated her left thumb while diving to try to tag Jamie Miller (Livermore/Ohlone College) on a bang-bang play at the plate in the fifth inning. She left the field under her own power after paramedics arrived and was taken to a local hospital for treatment. She did not return.
The delay prolonged solid efforts from Rodriguez and UVU starter Kyli Flanary, who both battled hard in the opener. But defense—and Rodriguez’s bat—proved to be the difference in a game that saw the lead change hands three times. The Wolverines made four errors behind Flanary, including two in the decisive sixth inning that set up Rodriguez’s heroics at the plate.
With CSUB trailing 3-2 in the sixth, a throwing error on a sacrifice attempt followed one pitch later by a throwing error on a stolen base attempt allowed the Roadrunners to tie the game at 3-3. Rodriguez then stroked a double to the gap in left center to give CSUB the lead.
Flanary tried to duplicate Rodriguez’s heroics with a two-out double of her own in the top of the seventh, but Rodriguez fanned pinch hitter Allison Barr to seal the win.
The Roadrunners supported a two-hit gem by senior pitcher Shawna Truan (McArthur/Fall River HS) by scoring on a walk, an error and a sacrifice fly in the first inning of the nightcap. That proved to be all the support Truan would need. She allowed just one runner to reach second base in the game while retiring 14 of the final 16 batters she faced.
Her offense, however, kept piling on the runs. In addition to Rodriguez’s two doubles, Ryane Petersen (Fresno/Fresno State) hit two doubles while Kristen Archuleta (Hollister/San Benito HS) hit a double and her first home run of the season. Shortstop Heather Veitch (Simi Valley/Royal HS) added a pair of hits, including the two-run single in the sixth inning that ended the game via the eight-run run.
Five ’Runners hit safely in both games Sunday, led by Archuleta, who had four hits, three runs and two RBIs. Rodriguez finished the afternoon 3-for-5 with three doubles. Petersen finished 3-for-5 with two doubles.
Leftfielder Amber Sackett had a two-run home run, her first of the season, to lead the UVU offense in game one. First baseman Cherylyn McGraw had both Wolverine hits in game two.
IDAHO STATE SWEEPS COLLEGE OF IDAHO
CALDWELL, Idaho --- Idaho State catcher Brittany Olsin entered Sunday's doubleheader with no home runs, no doubles, and no runs batted in. She sure left the doubleheader with plenty of all, as she went 5-for-7 on the day with a home run, three doubles, and six runs batted in, including five in game two as she helped Idaho State power past the College of Idaho 10-1 and 11-3.
The sweep of the NAIA's #15 ranked team pushed Idaho State to 3-4 on the season, the best seven-game start since the program reformed in 2007.
The Bengals scored in five of the six innings in game one, jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning on the power of a two-run homer by Jessica Baca, and a pair of Coyote errors. Megan Miller extended her hitting streak to 11 dating back to last season with a two-run single in the second, and Olsin chimed in with her second hit in as many innings, this a double to plate Terah Balckwell, making it 6-0 in the third inning.
ISU then made it 8-0 on some textbook softball, with Baca starting the inning with a single, and they moving to second on a sacrifice by Erin Olander, who made her first start of the season at first base. Taylor Marchione then singled her in and advanced to second on the throw home, allowing her to score on a double by Jennifer Martensen.
The College of Idaho finally got on the board against Kandis Clesson when an unearned run scored on an overthrow by Jessica Baca. ISU tacked on two more in the eighth on a Marchione double scoring Olander, and then a Martensen sacrifice fly.
Clesson threw five innings, allowing just four hits, no walks, and six strike outs, with the one unearned run. Kyla Bryant went the whole way for the College of Idaho, allowing 11 hits and 10 runs, seven earned.
In game two, it was more ISU offense, mostly from Olsin, who caught game two after serving as the DP in game one. ISU again got on the board quickly, scoring four in the first. Desirae Hoffman, who leads the team with a .522 average, got the first of three game two hits, a single to start it off. After a strike out, Megan Miller singled for a 12-game hitting streak, and Baca walked to load the bases with one out. Olander followed with a two-run single, and after a ground out, Courtney Darby followed with a two-run single of her own to make it 4-0. Starter Jody Zillner, who has an injured wrist, got out of further trouble by striking out Olsin, but that would be the last time Olsin was put out in the game.
Zillner homered in the bottom half of the first off of Nora Maschue to make it 4-1, and then ISU blew it open in the third with three unearned tallies, including a two-run double from Olsin. A Zillner sacrifice fly in the b0ttom of the third made it 7-2. ISU added three more in the fifth on a long three run home run with two outs by Olsin, giving her five runs batted in the game, tying Cassie Davies' school record set back in 1983 against Southern Utah.
Hannah Johnson homered in the bottom of the fifth off of Clesson, who came on in the fourth for Maschue, to keep the game going, but ISU added one more in the seventh to make it 11-3 as Olsin doubled against and eventually scored on a Hoffman single.
Clesson got the win by pitching four innings in relief of Maschue, allowing three hits and one unearned run with five strikeouts. Maschue went the first three, allowing four hits and two earned runs with three strikeouts.
All told, the Bengals racked up 25 hits on the day and allowed only 11. The Bengals move up to 3-4 on the season and now head south for the Littlewood Classic for five games at Arizona State University before playing a single game against Arizona this weekend. Currently the Arizona State Sun Devils are ranked #6 and Arizona is ranked #2.
NOTES: Olsin's batting average skyrocketed to .429 ... Miller is batting .393 and is the only Bengal to hit safely in all seven games this season ... Terah Blackwell made her first start at catcher in game one, and along with Olander at first base, Jocelyn Horton made her first start at third base this season ... ISU improved to 7-3 against the 'Yotes.