Stockton, Calif. - On the second day of the Libby Matson Tournament, the Pacific softball team again garnered a split, taking down CSU Bakersfield 8-0 in five innings before falling in the nightcap to Purdue by a tally of 3-1. Pacific used a two run first frame and five runs in the final two innings to take down the Roadrunners in the opener, as a Sydney Lahners home run in the first inning proved to be the deciding run in the contest. Pacific sits at 7-7 on the season after the second day of tournament play at home.

Game One

In the first of two for the Orange and Black at Bill Simoni Field today, Pacific sent Cassidy Gustafson (3-1) to the circle against the Roadrunner lineup. Despite a two out single from Sydney Raeber, Gustafson went unscathed in the first frame, setting the tone for the offense in the bottom of the inning. After Sara Anderson walked to start off the frame, Haylee Moran-Rowen and Nicole Zapotoczny reached on consecutive fielders choice groundouts before Sydney Lahners powered a two-run homer over the left field fence to give Pacific a first inning lead against CSUB for the second time in as many games.

Gustafson (3-1) allowed back-to-back singles to Amber Mills and Brianna Pontecorvo to begin the second before an impressive stretch, retiring ten in a row before a walk to pinch hitter Nadia Amezcua in the top of the fifth frame. In total, Gustafson allowed just three hits, striking out one and walking one in her second shutout of the season. Gustafson also shut down UConn at LSU's Tiger Classic en route to Pitcher of the Week honors on Feb. 14th.

Offensively, Pacific plated a run in the second inning as Gustafson helped her own cause with a singlet o center field, promptly stole second and scored as Toni Santos reached on an error during a sacrifice bunt attempt. Pacific tacked on two in the fourth as Moran-Rowen punched a triple into right center for a 5-0 lead. In the bottom of the fifth, Sellers led off with a double to right field before a walk to Molly Bourne and a Gustafson single scored a run to make the score 6-0 in favor of Pacific. After the Roadrunners went to the bullpen, bringing Mills to the circle to spell starter Lyndsay Klimenko (0-2). Pacific responded with an RBI groundout off the bat of pinch hitter Taylor Brink to go ahead 7-0. The final hitter of the game, Anderson, singled down the left field line, scoring Gustafson for the 8th run of the contest, giving the Tigers a second-straight run-rule shortened victory over the Roadrunners.

Moran-Rowen and Lahners each tallied multi-RBI contests while Anderson, Gustafson and Sellers had two hits each.


Game Two

The second game of the day saw Pacific and Purdue facing off for the second straight day. as Kenya Lindstrom (1-2) took the ball in the circle for the first time at home in her young career. Lindstrom allowed a solo homer off the bat of Heather Knight in the top of the second inning and a solo homer off the bat of Katie Harrison in the third. A double steal plated a third run for the Boilermakers, as the visitors took a 3-0 lead behind starter Lilly Fecho (6-2), who dazzled with nine strikeouts against just two walks, surrendering six hits in her seven innings of work.

For Pacific, Megan Walters was impressive in keeping the Tigers in the contest from the circle. After Mary Gooding singled and Harrison doubled to start the fifth inning, the sophomore took over for Lindstrom, immediately getting Mallory Baker to chase a pitch out of the zone for a strikeout. Walters induced a pair of ground ball outs to end the threat.

In the sixth inning, Walters registered strikeouts of Knight and Emily Kenny before setting Maya Hughes down on a groundout. In the bottom of the sixth frame, Zapotoczny blasted a leadoff hitter into the Stockton night on a 3-2 count, tightening the scoreline to 3-1 and ending Fecho's shutout bid. Sellers followed with a one out single and Bourne reached after being hit by a pitch, but Fecho struck out Melanie Habib to end the inning.

Walters again had a quick inning in the seventh, using a fielder's choice and a double play to easily retire the side.

The bottom of the seventh provided the majority of the dramatics in the contest as Toni Santos singled to right field to begin the inning ahead of a walk to Anderson. Moran-Rowen attempted a sacrifice bunt and reached on a fielding error by second baseman Kristen Hoppman, who was covering at first base. Zapotoczny stepped up with none out and the bases full, but hit a hard grounder to third base, where Kenny threw home for a force out. Lahners struck out swinging for the second out of the inning and Rachel Sellers flew out to right field after a nine pitch battle with Fecho.

Sellers had two hits for the Orange and Black, while Harrison was the offensive standout for the Boilermakers, recording three hits and an RBI while scoring a run.

Pacific will wrap up the 2016 Libby Matson Tournament on Sunday at 11:15 am against Cal Poly (10-4). The game will be broadcast via PacificTigers.com and live stats are also available on Pacific's website.

For the latest on the Pacific Softball program, fans are encouraged to follow @PacificSoftball on Twitter and Instagram.