Feb. 17, 2006
Box Score
Tucson, Ariz. - The Pacific Tigers softball team dropped the opener at the Wildcat Invitational on Friday, Feb. 17. The Tigers fell 6-4 to North Carolina State in eight innings, dropping to 2-3 on the season.
A game that picked up late, the Tigers found their own heroics over shadowed by those of the Wolf Pack from North Carolina State.
The Tigers struck first, taking advantage of mistakes by the Wolf Pack to push across a single run in the fourth inning, capitalizing on a bases loaded situation with patience at the plate. Senior Brittany Hyams (Huntington Beach, Calif.) worked a walk with no where to go forcing home the first run of the game. The entire inning was setup by a leadoff double by senior Kristen Allen (Citrus Heights, Calif.). For the game, Allen was 2-for-4.
With a one run lead, the Tigers found themselves in trouble in the bottom of the sixth inning as a leadoff free pass led to a bases loaded jam that led to two runs for the Wolf Pack.
Suddenly down one run heading into its final at bat, Pacific responded in the top of the seventh inning as the top of the lineup came through, putting together a string of four consecutive hits to tie the game at two. With the score tied, the Tigers cruised through the bottom half of the inning to force extra innings.
With a reprieve, the Tigers looked as if they were going to strand their free runner at second base after failing to move the runner to third via the sacrifice. With two outs, sophomore Lindsay Garehime (Redwood City, Calif.) strode to the plate as a pinch hitter. In her second appearance of the season, with a 1-2 count working against her, Garehime pulled through for the Tigers, smashing a home run over the center field wall (220ft), placing the Tigers ahead, 4-2.
What would have been a heroic pinch hit home run for Garehime became just another ordinary home run as her feat was one upped in the bottom half of the inning by Miranda Ervin for North Carolina State. With the bases loaded, two outs and two strikes, Ervin, a pinch hitter herself, belted a game winning walk-off grand slam to right field, ending the Tigers' bid for victory.
In the circle for the Tigers, freshman Chelsea Engle (Folsom, Calif.) pitched a solid game, going 7.2 innings before surrendering the final home run. Engle dropped to 1-2 on the season while giving up six earned runs (two until the bottom of the eighth) and striking out seven. For the Wolf Pack, Megan Dalthorp pitched a complete 8.0 innings, surrendering 12 hits, three earned runs and striking out three.
The Tigers finished the game with 12 hits, led by sophomore Gina Carbonatto (Lake Stevens, Wash.) who went 3-for-5 in the contest. However, Pacific left 12 runners on base throughout the game.
