STANFORD, Calif. – Birmingham Southern’s Kristina Villavicencio tossed a one-hit shutout and Heather Fox had the only RBI of the game in the fourth inning as the Panthers defeated Sacramento State, 1-0, in the third round of the Stanford Softball Invitational Saturday evening at Smith Family Stadium.With the victory, Birmingham Southern improved to 5-2 this season. The Hornets had their three-game winning streak (which included a victory over Santa Clara earlier today) snapped while dropping to 3-5.
Villavicencio (3-1) was dominant throughout the game, allowing just one hit while walking two and striking out five over seven innings. She did not allow a hit until the sixth inning when Hilary Johnson got aboard. In addition, Villavicencio faced just four batters over the minimum and allowed just one runner past first base the entire game (Lindy Winkler stole second with two outs in the third). She retired nine batters in a row until Johnson’s single in the sixth.
Birmingham Southern scored the only run of the game in the fourth inning when Fox’s two-out single scored Jennifer Wellborn, who had doubled earlier in the inning. Wellborn was the only Panther to advance past first base during the entire contest off of Hornet starter Nikki Cinque.
Cinque was the hard-luck losing pitcher after allowing just four hits and one run with five strikeouts over six innings. Her record fell to 2-3 this year despite having just a 1.01 ERA and allowing opponents a .200 batting average. In addition, she has allowed just four walks in 35.2 innings.
Sacramento State will close the tournament on Sunday, Feb. 19, as the Hornets take on tournament host and seventh-ranked Stanford at 11:30 a.m.
