SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- Sacramento State dropped a pair of games on the second day of the Mustang Softball Classic Saturday evening at Bob Janssen Field. The Hornets fell to tournament host Cal Poly, 6-1, before dropping their late evening game against Fairleigh Dickinson, 5-3.
With the losses, the Hornets fell to 8-9 overall, and 1-3 at the three-day tournament. That includes beating Santa Clara and falling to Stony Brook yesterday. Sacramento State has dropped three straight games on the heels of the team running off five victories over a six-game stretch, including Friday morning's win over Santa Clara to begin tournament play.
The Hornets will play their final game of the tournament tomorrow afternoon against Cal Poly at 2 p.m.
vs. CAL POLY
Sacramento State starting pitcher Caitlin Brooks had problems with her control, issuing eight walks over six innings while also giving up five hits and six runs with just one strikeout. The usually dominant Brooks hadn't allowed more than one earned run in each of her first seven starts of the season until Cal Poly (11-9) touched her for six runs today. The Mustangs scored twice in the first inning, once more in the second and fourth, and topped it off with a pair of runs in the seventh inning before Brooks was pulled in favor of Jennifer Hartman.
The loss also marked the first time in eight starts that Brooks did not throw a complete game. The right-hander dropped to 4-4 and saw her ERA rise to 1.31. The Mustangs' first-inning runs came on a two-run homer from Sierra Hyland, the first round tripper Brooks has allowed all season.
The Hornets did score a run in the seventh inning to avoid the shutout, but by that time, the game was already well in hand for Cal Poly. That seventh-inning Sacramento State run came on an RBI-single from Alexa Chattleton which scored Paige Castro from third base.
Hyland not only did the job with her bat as Cal Poly's cleanup hitter (2-for-4 with three RBIs), she was also impressive in the circle. Hyland (8-3) allowed just six hits and one run while striking out 11 batters in seven innings. Eight different Hornets struck out at least one time, and Chattleton (2-for-3) and Castro (2-for-3) were two of just four Sacramento State players to accumulate hits off Hyland.
vs. FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON
In the Hornets' first-ever meeting against Fairleigh Dickinson, the Knights broke open a close game with three runs in the sixth inning off Hornet starter Kaitlyn Yerby. Making her first start of the season, and just second appearance, Yerby allowed five runs (four earned) over five innings before Hartman pitched the sixth.
Both teams scored a pair of runs in the first, with the Hornets scoring in the top half of the inning on an RBI-single from Kortney Solis which plated Chattleton who had opened the inning with a triple.
However, Fairleigh Dickinson scored five unanswered runs, with the big blow coming in the sixth when Madelaine Wilen's two-out, two-run double gave the Knights a 5-1 lead.
The Hornets did score twice in the top of the seventh inning on a two-run homer from Paige Martin to cut the lead to 5-3. But Knights starter Megan Reiner (3-1) retired the next batter for the final out of the game. She allowed just three runs while scattering nine hits and striking out seven batters. The Hornets stranded 10 runners on base, including multiple runners in the first, fourth, fifth and sixth innings.
Yerby took the loss, dropping to 0-1. Eight different Hornets collected at least one hit, including Chattleton who was 2-for-3 with a triple, stolen base and a run scored. Chattleton is now 5-for-5 on stolen base opportunities this year and her .333 batting average and .469 on-base percentage lead the squad.
The Hornets finished the game 2-for-11 (.182) with runners in scoring position.