Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 SAN MARCOS, Calif.— The No. 8 Cal State San Marcos softball team picked up a pair of victories Tuesday afternoon at the CSUSM Softball Field, sweeping Tennessee Wesleyan 6-1 and 2-1 to remain unbeaten at home this season.

The Cougars received strong pitching performances in both games, with Katie Wilkinson and Ashley Dagenais each going the distance and combining to allow just one earned run over 15 innings.

The first game was started by Wilkinson (9-2), who needed just 47 pitches to get through seven innings against the Bulldogs, and retired the last 17 batters to end the game.

Dagenais (1-1) was forced to do extra work as the teams remained tied after regulation, and went eight innings allowing just one run. The freshman picked up her first career win after stranding the runner placed base via the international tiebreaker in the eighth, allowing the Cougars to capitalize in the bottom half of the inning to walk off for the sweep.

In the first game, Tennessee Wesleyan jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the second inning after an errant throw to the infield allowed the Bulldogs to score. CSUSM responded right back in the bottom of the frame though with two runs to take a lead they would never relinquish.

Melyssa Bellamy extended the lead to 4-1 in the third with a 2-run bomb to center field— her third homerun of the season, tied for the team lead. She also made a few strong defensive plays at shortstop, including a diving stop of a hard line drive to end the third inning.

CSUSM added two more insurance runs in the sixth inning on RBI singles from Gabrielle Beasley and Caylyn Rodriguez to end the scoring at 6-1. The Cougars outhit the Bulldogs 9-3 on the game.

The second game turned out to be more of a pitcher's duel, with neither team scoring until the Cougars got on the board in the fourth inning after an Alex Miller triple and Tani Leasau's line drive sac fly to bring her home for a 1-0 lead.

With two outs in the top of the sixth inning, the Bulldogs tied the score with a single and an RBI double right down the right field line.

Tennessee Wesleyan threatened again in the seventh inning, but Dagenais washed out a pair of singles by inducing a 6-4-3 double play. The Cougars went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the inning, sending the game to extras.

In the top of the eighth, a wild pitch allowed Tennessee Wesleyan's Lindsay Ardnts to advance to third with no outs, but Dagenais was able to record three straight infield pop-ups to end the threat. The freshman allowed just six hits over eight innings, striking out three.

In the bottom of the inning, Caylyn Rodriguez bunted pinch-runner Taylor Peters to third to put the winning run just 60 feet away with one out. The next batter Kaitlin McGinley put a ball in play to the pitcher, who elected to try to pick off Peters at third but threw the ball away, allowing the speedy Peters to come home for the winning run.

With the victories Tuesday, CSUSM improved to 14-3-1 on the season. The Cougars play next on Friday, March 7 at home against La Sierra with a doubleheader starting at 1:00pm.