March 26, 2006
Box Score
Sacramento, Calif. - The Pacific softball team picked up a non-conference doubleheader sweep of the Sacramento State Hornets on Sunday, March 26, taking two on the road for the first time since the 1990 season. With the wins the Tigers improved to 17-13 overall while the Hornets fell to 17-12.
The scores for the games were 10-3 and 6-1.
In the first game, the Tigers put together a combination of patience and timely hitting to post the win. Pacific got on the board first, notching four runs in the third inning, despite only tallying two hits. After finding themselves down two quick outs in the inning, the Tigers got things going as junior Gina Carbonatto (Lake Stevens, Wash.) worked a walk and proceeded to swipe second and third for Pacific. A single through the left side by senior Brittany Hyams (Huntington Beach, Calif.) drove home Carbonatto for the first run of the game. From that point, the Tigers sat back and walked their way to a four run lead, benefiting from four consecutive walks and a single by freshman Lauren Weyman (Carlsbad, Calif.) to build their lead.
The Hornets responded in the fourth inning, cutting the lead to two at 4-2 with a four hit inning including a two out, RBI single by Amy Tompkins. Despite giving up two runs, the Tigers pushed across another run immediately in the top of the fifth inning, as again, Weyman came through, dropping down an unexpected squeeze bunt that put Pacific up 5-3.
Once again, Sacramento State cut into the Tigers' lead, notching a single run in the bottom half of the fifth, scoring on an RBI double by Jaime Schloredt, their team leader in RBIs on the season.
With the lead back down to just two runs, Pacific's offense ignited in the top of the sixth inning, putting the game away with five runs on six hits. The Tigers started the inning with six straight hits, culminating with a three RBI double by junior Lizzie Hagen (Anaheim, Calif.).
In the circle for the Tigers, freshman Briana Santos (Garden Grove, Calif.) picked up her seventh win of the season, moving to 7-3 on the season. Santos went 5.0 innings while giving up three runs and six hits while striking out four. Fellow freshman, Chelsea Engle (Folsom, Calif.) returned to the circle in relief of Santos, just six days after being hit by a line drive against Washington. Engle pitched two shutout, no-hit, innings, while striking out three. Their counterpart, Cassie Cervantes, lasted just 2.2 innings while giving up one hit and four runs while striking out five and walking six. In relief, Michele Bochenski threw 4.1 innings, relinquishing 13 hits and six runs while striking out two and walking one.
The second game was much of the same for the Tigers and they rode the momentum for the opener into the first inning of game two. In the top of the first, Pacific posted another four run inning, pounding out four of the eight hits for the game. Carbonatto got things started for the Tigers while an infield hit. An error by the Hornets second baseman allowed Hyams to reach base while resulted in two runs as junior Jennifer Curtier (Lancaster, Calif.) roped a single up the middle to drive both Carbonatto and Hyams in. Another error and a single by Santos led to the Tigers posting two more runs in the inning.
The Tigers added some insurance runs in the second and in the fifth to allow senior Kristen Allen (Citrus Heights, Calif.) to pick up her first win of the season. Allen helped herself in the box as well, going 2-for-3 with two RBIs in the game, tallying the run for the Tigers in the second. Weyman continued her good day at the plate in the fifth, blasting her second homerun of the season, a solo line drive shot over the left field wall to cap the scoring for Pacific.
Allen went 5.1 innings in the circle for the Tigers, giving up six hits and one run while striking out three. The lone run for the Hornets came in the sixth inning as they were able to knock Allen out of the game with with three consecutive hits including a triple, a single and a double. In relief, sophomore Alyce Jorgensen, threw 1.2 innings of perfect pitching, retiring all five batters she faced, striking out one.
For the Hornets, Nikki Cinque picked up the loss, giving up eight hits and six runs, four earned, in 5.0 innings pitched. Jennifer Fryou went two innings, giving up no hits while striking out two.
The Tigers will again be in action on Saturday, April 1 as they host UC Davis in a non-conference doubleheader. The first game is scheduled to begin at 12:00 pm.
