Stockton, Calif. - On the second day of the 2015 Louisville Slugger Invitational at Bill Simoni Field, the Pacific softball team registered a split, besting Grand Canyon (19-15) by a score of 3-2 before falling 7-4 to Connecticut (9-17). Following the split, Pacific sits at 10-23 on the season.

Game One

Pacific sent freshman Marissa Young (3-4) to the circle, facing off with Grand Canyon's Bailey Bergman (3-1). Young battled through adversity early, getting out of jams in the first and third innings while Bergman allowed a pair of base runners in the third without allowing a run.  

Grand Canyon opened the scoring in the top of the fourth inning with a single from Nicole Newbury and an RBI double from Brittany Medina. In the bottom of the inning, Pacific responded with a one-out double from Sydney Lahners and a triple from Cassidy Gustafson. Gustafson came in to score as the cutoff throw from second baseman Camree Wartman skipped past the third baseman Newbury allowing Gustafson to take home for a 2-1 Pacific lead. Now trailing, the Antelopes went to the pen summoning relief specialist Taylor Nowlin, who retired the side to limit the damage.

In the top of the fifth, Young twirled a perfect shutdown inning and Nowlin responded with a scoreless frame in the bottom half.  In the sixth, Young walked a pair of GCU hitters with one out, but worked carefully, inducing a pair of groundouts to end the threat.

In the bottom of the inning, junior Nicole Zapotoczny launched an opposite field blast to right field, her sixth homer of the season, giving Pacific an insurance run that it would need to preserve the win.

In the top of the seventh, Haley Walker led off with a double to center field against Young and came in to score on a sacrifice fly from Kelsey Barak. Grand Canyon had the tying run at second base in Kayla Henry, who delivered a bunt single, but Young had no plans of letting the game get away from her, inducing a groundout from Bianca Boling and striking out Wartman looking for her only strikeout of the contest.

Young allowed eight hits and two runs over her seven innings of work while freshman Molly Bourne and sophomore Melanie Habib had singles for Pacific, as the Tigers sent GCU to its first loss of the weekend.

Game Two

In the second game of the day, Pacific sent Dani Bonnet (5-11) to the circle facing off with Chelsea Eckret (1-5) of Connecticut. Both teams registered runs in the first inning, as UConn scored first with three straight singles in the opening frame, capped by an RBI stroke from Dominique Pinto.

Undaunted, Pacific picked up three runs in the bottom of the inning off of Eckert as junior Sara Anderson singled and scored on a  Bourne double to tie the score at 1-1. After Zapotoczny and Lahners walked, Gustafson doubled to right field, bringing home two for a 3-1 Pacific lead.

Bonnet worked quickly in the second and Pacific tacked on another run in the bottom half of the inning, as Anderson again singled and scored on Bourne's second double of the contest, putting the Tigers ahead 4-1.

UConn scratched closer with two unearned runs in the top of the third, highlighted by an RBI single from Emily O'Donnell. Clinging to a 4-3 lead, Pacific went down in order in the bottom of the inning and Connecticut used three singles and a triple from Alyssa Gardea in the top of the fourth to take a 6-4 lead over the hosts. In the midst of the frame, Megan Walters spelled Bonnet and ended the inning without any further damage.

Freshman Rachel Sellers roped a double to begin the fourth, but was doubled off of second as a liner from Sophomore Toni Santos found the glove of Ryne Nakama, who stepped on second to pick up the double play.

UConn added an insurance run as the Huskies rapped three singles, including an RBI knock from O'Donnell to take a 7-4 lead.

Pacific put runners on in the sixth and seventh innings, including Bourne's third hit of the contest in the seventh, but Eckert worked effectively out of jams, forcing the Tigers to settle for a split despite an early 4-1 lead.

For the Tigers, Bourne was a standout in the second game, going 3-3 for two doubles while Anderson added a pair of hits, scoring two runs. Gustafson excelled again, with the two-RBI double giving Pacific early breathing room.

Pacific will wrap up the 2015 Louisville Slugger Invitational at 12:15 pm on Sunday as the Tigers take on Cal State Northridge in the annual "Pacific Plays Pink" contest at Bill Simoni Field. The Tigers will be wearing their pink jerseys while raising awareness and funds for breast cancer research. Live stats and video for the contest will be available via PacificTigers.com

For the latest on the Pacific Softball program, follow @PacificSoftball on Twitter and Instagram.