Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 Game #1
#1 CSU San Marcos – 9
#6 Patten University - 3
Day two of the AII Softball Tournament began in the morning with #1-seed Cal State San Marcos Cougars taking on the #6-seed Patten University Lions. The Cougars began the game on offense as the visiting team, and they got on the board quickly. Alex Miller doubled to deep center scoring Alicia Ingram from 1st. Brittany Boone got the start in the game and pitched very well for three innings allowing just one run. However in the 4th, Patten scored two more to tie it, with the Cougar outfield having problems seeing the ball in the sun. Left fielder Alicia Ingram stopped the bleeding with a nice running grab into foul territory to strand the runners, but not before Patten had a 3-2 and looked poised to pull the major upset.
CSUSM's ace Brenna Sandberg came in after the 4th and pitched three perfect innings striking out six. She kept the Cougars down only 1, and in the 5th inning Alyssa Dronenburg homered to right field to tie the game 3-3. That tie would be broken in the sixth inning when Kaitlin McGinley scored on an errant throw to the plate. Then with one on, Dronenburg hit her second home run to left field breaking open the game. The Cougars would score three more in the seventh to win by the score of 9-3, giving Sandberg her 36th win of the season. Patten was eliminated from the tournament after suffering their second loss.
Game #2
#3 U. of Houston-Victoria – 11
#5 U. of British Columbia - 4
The second game featured the University of British Columbia against the Jaguars of Houston-Victoria. UBC shortstop Jess Hodge had an outstanding day, making plenty of nifty plays in the field, and also singled in the bottom of the 1st to score Jess Barclay. That gave UBC pitcher Leigh Della Siega an early lead to work with, and she would throw four scoreless innings to preserve that lead. However, in the top of the 5th the Jaguars' offense awoke as Porsha Ramos hit a fly ball into center field that was dropped by the UBC right fielder, scoring two runs to bring UHV even.
With the game tied the Jaguars erupted in the 6th inning for five runs. Catcher Kristina Droz did a good portion of the damagewith a home run to left field scoring Kelly King. The Jaguars would add a couple more to that total for an 11-4 win. Winning pitcher Dawn Villegas pitched outstanding in her 2nd game allowing only two runs (one earned) over six innings. With the loss UBC was eliminated from the tournament.
Game #3
#4 Simon Fraser – 7
#2 Central Baptist - 2
Central Baptist College took on the Simon-Fraser University Clan in the third game of the day. Simon-Fraser's pitcher Cara Lukawesky may very well be the most valuable player of the tournament thus far, and she showed why in this game. After allowing two runs in the first inning she did not allow another run for the rest of the game, going the full seven against CBC's mighty offense.
Down 2-0, SFU scored 3 runs in the3rd inning to take the lead, and did not look back. Lukawesky retired CBC hitters with her pitching and also with her glove as she made a couple great defensive plays on the day. When CBC was threatening with runners on 1st and 2nd and none out, Lukawesky struck out 2011 A.I.I. Conference Player of the Year Christen Kirchner, then caught a liner and immediately threw back to second for an inning ending double play to defuse what turned out to be CBC's best chance to take the game.
Brittany Mayers sealed the deal with a home run in the 4th inning, giving SFU a two run advantage. SFU would tack on three more runs and would eventually win the game by a total of 7-2, guaranteeing themselves a spot in Saturday's championship game. SFU is making the same kind of post-season run they did at last year's NAIA National Championships, when they shocked the country by taking home the title. Central Baptist will play Saturday as well, in the morning's semifinal.
Game #4
#1 CSU San Marcos – 1
#3 U. of Houston-Victoria – 2 (13 INNINGS)
The first three games were all prologue for what happened in the nightcap, however, as Houston-Victoria and Cal State San Marcos battled in an elimination game for a chance to join CBC in the semifinal. The contest would turn into an epic pitcher's duel between the team's aces, Sandberg for CSUSM and Emily Bergstrom for Houston-Victoria.
The Cougars' took an early lead in the second on a Jalisa McCarvel RBI double following an error that allowed Shanti Poston to reach base. That 1-0 score would hold up until the sixth, when UHV tied it on an Allison Hinton base hit to center that plated Kayla Lindemann.
From that point on, Sandberg and Bergstrom took over, putting up dueling 0's well into the night, almost to the point of darkness. Neither team could capitalize on its chances, with the Cougar offense failing to come up with the big hit time after time. Finally in the 13th, Houston-Victoria leadoff hitter Porsha Ramos doubled to start the inning, and Kori Kocian's well-executed sacrifice bunt was thrown into right field, allowing Ramos to trot home with the winning run.
Houston-Victoria will face Central Baptist tomorrow at 10 AM for the right to play Simon-Fraser in the championship game.
