April 13, 2008
Box Score
Riverside, Calif. - Playing the rubber game of the season series at UC Riverside, the Pacific softball team could not figure out Christin Songer for the second consecutive game, falling to the Highlanders 4-0 on Sunday, April 16. The loss dropped the Tigers to 22-25 overall and 4-5 in conference play while the Highlanders improved to 17-25 overall and 3-6 in the Big West.
The victory for UC Riverside marked the first time since the 2003 season the Highlanders have taken a season series in conference action and the first time the Tigers have dropped a season series to the Highlanders in program history.
Picking up where she left off from the first game on Saturday afternoon, Songer kept the Tigers bats at bay for the entire afternoon, holding Pacific down while her own offense rallied for the win. Throughout the day, the Tigers posted just five hits with two belonging to both sophomore Brittany Hendrickson (San Jose, Calif.) and junior Casey Goldsand (Scottsdale, Ariz.) at the top of Pacific's lineup. Sophomore Nicole Gradwohl (Livermore, Calif.) tallied the only other hit for the Tigers as Pacific's designated player, singling up the middle with one out in the seventh in an attempt to start a late rally.
With the Tigers' bats struggling throughout the day, the Highlanders made good use of nine hits against junior Chelsea Engle (Folsom, Calif.) to post four runs en route to their third conference win of the year.
UC Riverside got out front of the Tigers in the bottom of the third inning, manufacturing a single run on a pair of hits by the Hebenton sisters. In the fourth, UC Riverside posted another single run, using a leadoff single by Katie Curtis to start the inning. Pacific was fortunate not to give up more runs in the inning when the Engle was able to pitch out of a bases loaded jam with help from an outfield assist by Hendrickson, who gunned down Milana Johnson at the plate, trying to score the second run of the inning.
Down two, the Tigers sawe their comeback chances diminish further in the bottom of the sixth inning when Krystal Marquez lifted a two-run homerun down the leftfield line to put the score at 4-0. The homerun was Marquez's first career homerun.
Overall, Engle fell to 14-13 on the season as she was charged with all four runs in the contest in 5.1 innings pitched. Songer improved to 8-5 on the year, striking out five in seven innings.
Pacific will look to gat back on track against Cal State Fullerton on Saturday, April 19 at Bill Simoni Field in a conference doubleheader. The first game is scheduled for 12:00 pm.
