SAMFORD 3, IDAHO STATE 2
Tempe, Ariz. --- Kandis Clesson didn't allow a hit from early in the first through the fifth innings, but a one-out home run in the bottom of the sixth inning by Katie England gave Samford a 3-2 lead, and ISU left the tying and winning runs on base in the seventh, as the Bengals lost their fifth straight, this to Samford in the final game of the Wilson/DeMarini Classic.
The Bengals who were severely shorthanded for a third straight game, got another masterful performance from Clesson, who allowed singles to the first two batters of the game, and then nothing after that until the homer in the sixth. Both of those leadoff singles came around to score in the first, giving Samford a 2-0 lead.
The Bengals, who only have 14 players, played with just 11 as Courtney Darby and Brittany Olsin both sat out again after colliding with each other on Saturday, and Jennifer Martensen missed a fifth straight game with an illness. That meant ISU used all nine position players, and the only bench player available was pitcher Nora Maschue, making for a lonely bench when ISU was in the field.
Still, the Bengals got one run back in the third when Desirae Hoffman, who went 4-for-4 to raise her average to an astonishing .543, singled, and then scored on a double by Taylor Marchione. Marchione couldn't score on a hard single by Megan Miller, and she was then stranded at third on a Jessica Baca groundout.
It stayed 2-1 until the top of the sixth, when Megan Miller tied it with a leadoff home run to center field. However, the lead was short lived as England homered with one down in the bottom half of the inning to give Samford the 3-2 lead. ISU then got back-to-back two-out singles by Hoffman and Marchione, but Miller grounded out to end the game.
Clesson allowed just three hits in the loss, walking only two and striking out six. Her counterpart Robyn Harmon allowed two runs on 10 hits with no walks and three strikeouts. ISU's first three batters, Hoffman, Marchione, and Miller, went 8-for-11, but the rest of the lineup was just 2-for-18, with both hits by Erin Olander.
The Bengals finished the Wilson/DeMarini Classic at 0-5, and now will head to Tucson for a game with #2 Arizona later on Sunday, weather permitting.
NOTES: Clesson's ERA lowered once again to 3.94 ... Hoffman's four hits was the first four-hit game by a Bengal this year, and she, Marchione, and Miller all had their fifth multi-hit games of the season ... Missing Martensen for the tournament hurt, as she had a team-leading eight runs batted in over just seven games, and despite missing the five games, she maintained the team lead ... ISU has been outhomered 10-4 this season, and opponents have 31 stolen bases to just four for the Bengals.
SANTA CLARA 6, CS BAKERSFIELD 5
NORTHRIDGE, Calif. - Two scoring innings weren't enough for CSUB as previously winless Santa Clara scrapped from behind twice to upset the Roadrunners 6-5 Sunday at the Matador Invitational in Northridge.
CSUB (7-9 overall) saw its five-game winning streak snapped with the loss. Santa Clara improved to 1-7.
The Roadrunners jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead thanks to Ryane Petersen's third home run of the season. After Santa Clara tied it with singles runs in the second and third innings, Karlee Rodgers gave the 'Runners their biggest lead, 5-2, with a bases-clearing single in the fourth.
With Santa Clara entering the game hitting just .192, a three-run lead seemed safe. But the Broncos got close by parlaying two ground ball singles and a walk into two runs in the bottom of the fourth. Third baseman Megan Smith, a career .162 hitter, then tied the game with a leadoff homer in the sixth.
CSUB had a chance to reclaim the lead in the seventh when singles by Rodgers and Kelli Bailey put runners on first and second with one out. Santa Clara got out of the jam by turning a pop to short left off the bat of Danielle Lyman into an inning-ending double play.
Reliever Katie Chavez fanned Bronco No. 5 hitter Kristen Welsh to open the bottom of the seventh. But she walked first baseman Emily Batt, who advanced to second on a wild pitch and to third on a single by Jenna Fong. Jackie Nicora followed with a fly ball to right, where Jill McClelland made a strong throw that just missed gunning down Batt, who slid home for the winning run.
CSUB will take the week off before heading to the coast for three games next weekend. The 'Runners will play a doubleheader at UC Santa Barbara Saturday before heading north for a single game at Big West Conference preseason favorite Cal Poly Sunday morning.
NEW MEXICO STATE 3, PORTLAND STATE 2
LAS VEGAS – A two-run home run by Brittany Clifton helped New Mexico State rally for a 3-2 victory over Portland State on Sunday morning at the Eller Media Stadium Tournament.
The Vikings had plenty of chances to extend an early 2-0 lead, but left nine runners on base and had several base running errors that ended innings.
Portland State (6-11) jumped in front first with a two-run second inning. De'Chauna Skinner led off with a double to right center and then came around to score on Alexa Morales' single back up the middle. Morales moved up to second on the throw home and Carly McEachran followed with another single to put runners on the corners. Morales eventually would score on a wild pitch.
New Mexico State (12-8) made a pitching change heading into the third inning and it paid off as Sydney Williard kept PSU off the scoreboard the rest of the way despite giving up five hits and walking one.
The Aggies, who entered the game with a .344 batting average, didn't do much damage against PSU righty Anna Bertrand until the sixth inning. But, Bertrand hurt herself in the fourth. After getting two quick outs, the freshman walked two straight batters and then hit another to load the bases. Pinch hitter Ashley Ortego made her pay with an RBI-single to left field.
Through five innings, Bertrand held New Mexico State's potent offense to only three hits. In the sixth, though, they finally chased her from the game when Clifton hit a two-run shot over the right centerfield fence.
The Vikings had a chance to tie the game in the bottom of the seventh, getting consecutive two-out singles by Brandi Scoggins and Lacey Holm. But Williard got Brandi Campos to groundout for the final out.
Bertrand took the loss to fall to 4-4. In 5 1/3 innings, she gave up five hits and three earned runs while walking six and striking out four.
Williard (2-1) got the win in relief and struck out three.
Scoggins, Holm, Morales and McEachran each had two hits for the Vikings.
Portland State finished the three-day tournament with a 2-3 record. The Vikings return to action next weekend at the Husky Softball Classic in Seattle.
NOTES: Scoggins finished the tourney with a .667 batting average, going 12-for-18 with three doubles and five RBIs. She now has a career-best eight game hitting streak going ... Scoggins also moved into the PSU career top 10 for hits over the weekend. She has 19 on the season and 170 her career, putting her in a tie for No. 8 with Megumi Hackett (2000-03). She needs one more RBI to move into the top 10 for that category ... Tori Rogers worked 1 2/3 innings of hitless relief for PSU ... The Vikings fell to 4-3 all-time against the Aggies.
GAME 1- #19 NORTH CAROLINA 5, LOYOLA MARYMOUNT 1
GAME 2- #3 FLORIDA 13, LOYOLA MARYMOUNT 1
Fullerton, Calif. – There would be no Oscar Sunday upsets as LMU went down to a pair of ranked foes on the final day of the DeMarini Invitational Sunday in Fullerton, Calif. The Lions (3-7) dropped the day’s opening game 5-1 to 19th-ranked North Carolina before falling 13-1 to #3 Florida in a a game that had been postponed from Saturday due to rain.
North Carolina got all of its production in innings 2-through-4, scoring once each in the second and third before pulling away with a three-run fourth. The Tar Heels (15-3) used small-ball for their first run, with Kelsey Green driving in the game’s first run with a single after a hit batter and sacrifice bunt had put a runner in scoring position.
UNC doubled its lead in the third on a sacrifice fly before Kelli Wheeler’s two-run home made it 4-0 in the fourth. A double, bunt, and infield single accounted for UNC’s fifth run.
Junior Priscilla Satete got the Lions on the board with her first career home run, a solo shot in the seventh for her second of two hits in the game.
Senior Melissa Dykema (2-4) took the loss, allowing all five runs on 11 hits. Amber Johnson (8-2) got the win, limiting the Lions to five hits.
In the day’s second game, Florida showed why it deserved its high ranking after reaching the national championship series last year. The Gators got things going right away as Aja Paculba led off the game with a home run off freshman Molly Medeiros (0-3). The Gators would tack on a second run in the first and then explode for eight runs in the seconds to blow the game open.
LMU pulled a run back in the fourth on senior Darcy Pagnini’s team-leading third home run of the year but UF added three more in the fifth for the final tally. Pagnini’s home run and junior Jennifer Nayudu’s first-inning single would account for LMU’s only hits as sophomore Sam Fischer saw her hitting streak halted at nine games.
Medeiros was tagged for 10 runs on nine hits in 1 2/3 innings before freshman Erica Grady finished things off with 3 1/3 innings of work.
LMU closes out nearly a month of road trips next week at the Malihini Kipa Aloha Tournament in Honolulu, Hawai’i. The Lions open play Friday against DePaul before a rematch with the hosts, who beat LMU 8-0 in Los Angeles on February 23. LMU will then face Troy on Saturday morning before the knock-out portion of the bracket begins.
Northridge, CA – After a rain-suspended game on Saturday, the Saint Mary’s softball team got in one more game on Sunday, falling to tournament host CSU Northridge 1-4. Freshman Megan Smith recorded 2-of-5 SMC hits on the day as the Gaels finished with a 1-2 record in the Matador Invitational.
CS NORTHRIDGE 4, SAINT MARY’S 1
NORTHRIDGE, Calif. -- CSU Northridge put up three runs in the first two innings of play and held a 4-0 lead until the Gaels put up one run in the top of the seventh to avoid the shutout. The Matadors outhit SMC 10-5 and the 15 combined hits were all on singles.
Britany Linton got the starting nod but gave up a lead-off single to Olivas who would eventually score from third on a wild pitch by Linton.
The next batter, Carlsen, reached on a throwing error by Linton, putting Carlsen on second with two out. Allen singled to center to score Carlsen before Linton got Raphael to line out to left field. Linton would give up one more run in the second inning on a single up by middle by Carlsen before being replaced by junior right-hander Maryanne Cronin.
The Gaels kept the Matadors scoreless until the bottom of the fifth when CSUN posted back-to-back singles and scored on an error by Cronin.
Jenna Smith led off the top of the seventh with a walk before Jessica Lemmon and Katherine Delpit lined out and fouled out, respectively. With two outs, designated hitter Megan Smith singled up the middle to advance J. Smith to third. Mandy Camuso followed with a single through the right side, scoring J. Smith to make it 4-1 CSUN.
M. Smith finished the day with two hits to bump her average to .303 on the season. Michelle Mounts was 1-for-3 and holds a team-high .379 batting average. Linton got the loss, falling to 4-4 on the year.
With the loss, the Gaels are 6-6 on the season and CSU Northridge improves to 7-11.
SMC finished 1-2 in the Matador Invitational and have one game that has yet to be finalized. On Saturday, the Gaels came from behind to tie it up 3-3 with Iowa in the fifth before rain suspended the game. The game was unable to resume on Saturday and Iowa flew out, leaving the game suspended until further notice.
The Gaels return to the diamond on Saturday, March 13 when they travel to San Jose State for a doubleheader starting at noon. SMC will conclude the weekend with a noon game against CSU Fullerton on Sunday at San Jose State.