BERKELEY, Calif. – The Pacific softball team returned to Northern California and dropped a 5-1 non-conference contest to California Wednesday afternoon at Levine-Fricke Field.

The Tigers (3-11) kept the Golden Bears (13-3) off the board for the first two innings as Bethany Hammer earned the start in the circle. Hammer gave up just one hit in two strong innings while tallying one strikeout. The senior Placerville, Calif., is second on the team in innings pitched with 21.1 and has tallied 13 strikeouts so far this season.

Pacific took the lead in the top of the third inning as Carly Lucchetti punched an RBI single through the left side of the infield. Reagan Hamilton scored the lone run for the Tigers as she recorded a hit earlier in the inning. Lucchetti continues to lead the team with a .486 batting average after recording three hits in four plate appearances against the Golden Bears.

The Golden Bears responded quickly and scored five unanswered runs in the final four innings of play to prevent the upset. 

"Though we lost today, we may have played one of our better games," Head Coach Brian Kolze stated after the game. "We were really happy with how our pitching and hitting fought and battled." "We just need to situationally hit better at times to score more runs."

Pacific returns to action Friday, March 4, as the Tigers take on Idaho State in the Libby Matson Tournament and will play at Bill Simoni Field for the first time this season. The first pitch against the Bengals is scheduled for 2:45 p.m.