March 9, 2009
Box Score
Stockton, Calif. - Sophomore Nicole Matson (Castaic, Calif.) delivered her first walk-off home run as a Tiger, lifting Pacific to a 4-2 win over Northern Illinois in the first game of a doubleheader on Monday, Mar. 9.
The victory lifted the Tigers to 8-9 on the season, while Northern Illinois fell to 3-10 overall.
Trailing 2-1 with one out in the seventh inning, Pacific senior Casey Goldsand (Scottsdale, Ariz.) blooped a slap single into center field. Freshman Paige Emerson (Rocklin, Calif.) followed with a hard shot to shortstop, that bounced out of the glove of the Huskies' Krista Matsui allowing Emerson to reach first. Goldsand easily made it to second on the play, bringing Matson to the plate.
Nicole took the first pitch of the at-bat over the outside corner for a called strike one. The next offering from Northern Illinois starter Joreigh Landers was outside, evening the count at 1-1. As the game hung in the balance, Matson ended the suspense by launching a ball deep over the left-center field wall for her first walk-off home run as a Tiger.
Early in the game, Pacific took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second as the Tigers took advantage of an errant throw. With one out in the frame, Pacific loaded the bases as freshman Alexa Rivera (Sacramento, Calif.) was hit by a pitch, junior Karie Wilson (Glendale, Ariz.) laced a single to center, then senior Lauren Weyman (Carlsbad, Calif.) was hit by a pitch. The next batter, sophomore Lindsey Pierce grounded a ball to second base. Northern Illinois' Dani Thompson elected to try for the out at home, but her throw sailed high allowing Rivera to slide in safely.
The Huskies responded by taking advantage of two Pacific errors and an RBI single in the top of the third to knot the score at 1-1.
Northern Illinois took the lead in the top of the on a leadoff single by Andrea Colosimo, a sacrifice bunt, and a two-out RBI single off the bat of Bailey Ouellette.
Senior Chelsea Engle (Folsom, Calif.) earned her fourth victory of the season (4-5) as she allowed two runs (one earned) on three hits and two walks in seven innings. It was Engle's fifth complete game of the season.
Landers suffered the loss (1-4) allowing four runs (two earned) on five hits and one walk in 6.1 innings.
The Tigers and Huskies continue their doubleheader with the second game scheduled to start at approximately 3:30 p.m. at Bill Simoni Field.
