March 16, 2008
Box Score
Stockton, Calif. - Behind a brilliant pitching performance by senior Alyce Jorgensen (Los Altos, Calif.), the Pacific softball team picked up a split with Cal State Bakersfield on Sunday, March 16. The Roadrunners ran away with game one, 8-2, while Pacific responded with a 5-0 shutout victory in the second game. The Tigers moved to 15-16 on the season with the split while the Roadrunners remained at .500 with a 12-12 overall record.
A game that was close through the first four innings of play, quickly got out of hand for the Tigers as the Roadrunners broke open a 2-2 tie in the fifth inning with a pair of runs in the top of the fifth. In the sixth, Cal State Bakersfield put the game out of reach, scoring four runs while batting around their lineup to capture the opening win.
The Tigers opened the contest with a single runs in both the first and the second inning to give them the early 2-0 lead. In the first, sophomore Kellee Wilson (Tracy, Calif.) continued to build upon her team lead in RBI, knocking in sophomore Casey Goldsand (Scottsdale, Ariz.) who had reached base earlier in the inning on an infield single to the leftside.
In the second, it was sophomore Brittany Hendrickson (San Jose, Calif.) who did the damage for the Tigers, singling home Jorgensen who had lead the inning off with a double into the gap into centerfield.
However, Pacific's lead would quickly vanish as the Roadrunners erased the two run deficit with single runs in the next two innings to knot the game at 2-2. In the fifth inning, Bakersfield would take advantage of three hits and a pair of walks to do their damage sending eight batters to the plate. In the sixth, the Roadrunners strung together five consecutive at bats reaching base (four hits and one walk), capped by a bases clearing, three RBI, double by Kristen Archuleta to seal the win.
Junior Heidi Helberg (Brentwood, Calif.) was tagged with the loss in the game going 4.1 innings while giving up eight hits and four runs. Brittany Johnson picked up the complete game victory for Bakersfield, relinquishing seven hits and two runs.
In game two, the Tigers got a lift from Jorgensen in the circle as the senior shutdown the bats of the Roadrunners, holding Bakersfield to just four hits in seven innings after they had produced 14 hits in the previous contest. Throughout the entire contest, Jorgensen allowed just two runners to reach second with her only trouble coming in the third inning as she allowed a runner to reach third with two outs in the inning. The trouble was short lived as Jorgensen struck out the next batter, tallying one of her five strikeouts in the game. Additionally, Jorgensen walked just one batter in her seven innings of work.
With Jorgensen cruising in the circle, the Tigers' offense picked up the pace from game one, manufacturing five runs in the game to pick up their 15th win of the season.
After seeing nothing come about in the first three innings, the Tigers got started in the bottom of the fourth inning, fueled by a leadoff double down the line by Jorgensen. A single by Lauren Weyman (Carlsbad, Calif.) pushed Jorgensen to third while junior Briana Santos (Garden Grove, Calif.) finished the job with a single through the leftside to plate Jorgensen. Freshman Lindsey Pierce (Camarillo, Calif.) capped Pacific's inning with a single up the middle, scoring Weyman. Pierce, hitting in the No. 9 hole for the Tigers, reached base all three trips to the plate, knocking out two hits while walking once.
In the fifth, the Tigers continued where they had left off in the previous inning, plating two more runs in the inning to give Jorgensen a four run cushion. After Wilson walked to start the inning, freshman Nicole Matson (Castaic, Calif.) followed with a single up the middle to two runners on base.
Jorgensen continued to help herself at the plate, moving both runners into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt. With a runner 60 feet from scoring, the Tigers ran a squeeze play with Weyman at the plate, executing it to perfection as Wilson scored from third while Weyman reached base safely. For the second inning in a row, Santos delivered for the Tigers, lifting a sacrifice fly into leftfield that was deep enough to score Matson from third to close out the scoring for the Tigers in the fifth.
Pacific tacked on an insurance run in the sixth when on an RBI ground out by Wilson which scored Pierce on the play.
The Tigers will be back in action on Tuesday, March 18, as they host Wisconsin in a single game at Bill Simoni Field. The game is scheduled for 2:00 pm.
