March 18, 2008

Box Score

Stockton, Calif. - Behind another one-hitter, junior Chelsea Engle (Folsom, Calif.) pitched the Pacific softball team past Wisconsin, 1-0, on Tuesday, March 18. The win moved the Tigers to .500 on the year at 16-16 overall while the Badgers dropped to 7-17.

With the offense quieted and held to just three hits, Engle dominated the Badgers from the circle, picking up six strikeouts in seven innings pitched including striking out the side in the first inning to kick start her afternoon. It was also in the first inning that Engle got into her only really trouble, walking and hitting a batter in between her strikeouts to allow Wisconsin to place a runner at second and into scoring position.

In the second inning, Wisconsin again put their leadoff batter on second base with only one out, but Engle induced a pop up and picked up her fourth strikeout of the contest to get out of the inning. From the second until the sixth, Engle retired 14 straight batters, snapping her streak with her second hit batsman of the day.

After putting her first runner on base in four innings, Engle saw her no-hitter broken up with a single into the gap in right-center off of the bat of Ricci Robben. On the day, Engle allowed five baserunners on two walks, two hit batsman and one hit.

With Engle powering through the Wisconsin lineup, her counterpart, Leah Vanevenhoven held the Tigers in check for most of the day, giving up just one run and three hits to Pacific. In the fourth inning Pacific posted its lone run of the game on a single by junior Briana Santos (Garden Grove, Calif.).

Santos single through the right side with two outs in the inning, scoring freshman Nicole Matson (Castaic, Calif.) from second base. Matson had reached base previously after being struck in the side by an errant pitch from Vanevenhoven. It marked the ninth time this season Matson has been hit by a pitch.

Pacific would threaten again in the fifth, loading the bases with two outs, only to come away empty handed.

The Tigers will be back in action on Wednesday, March 19, as they host Princeton in a doubleheader at Bill Simoni Field. The first game is scheduled to begin at 1:00 pm.