SOFTBALL DROPS A PAIR IN THE FIRST DAY OF THE STANFORD CLASSIC
3/9/2007
STANFORD, Calif. -- Sacramento State pitching allowed a combined 16 hits and 13 runs in 11.0 innings as the Hornets dropped a pair of games in the first round of the Stanford Softball Classic Friday evening at Smith Family Stadium.
Sacramento State fell in its first game of the day to 12th-ranked Stanford, 8-0, before losing in the nightcap, 5-2 to Loyola (Chicago). The Hornets continue to struggle, having lost 11 of their last 13 games after beginning the season with a 2-0 record. Sacramento State’s 4-11 record is the team’s worst mark after 15 games since joining the Div. I ranks in 1990.
Stanford improved to 18-5 with the victory, and Loyola improved to 3-7.
In the nightcap, Loyola took advantage of early wildness from Sacramento State starter Cassie Cervantes. The Ramblers scored three runs in the first two innings without the benefit of a hit, instead taking advantage of five walks, a Hornet error and two wild pitches.
Loyola tacked onto its lead with two more runs in the fifth inning on a two-run single from Kat Krause. The Hornets, who had just one hit through the first five innings of the game, got on the board with a pair of runs in the sixth. Sacramento State received hits from Amy Tompkins and Hilary Johnson and were the beneficiaries of three Rambler errors in the inning.
Loyola’s Amy Solava (2-4) picked up the win, allowing just two unearned runs and three hits in 7.0 innings. Cervantes (1-3) got the loss, completing just 1.1 innings of work. Kayla Meeks pitched the final 4.2 innings in relief, allowing four hits and two runs. Sacramento State had just three singles in the game, coming from Tompkins, Johnson and Jamie Schloredt.
In the Hornets’ first game of the day, Stanford’s offense wracked up eight runs and 12 hits off Hornet pitchers Michele Bochenski, Jennifer Fryou and Brittani Clifford. The 12th-ranked Cardinal scored once in the second, twice in the third, three more in the fourth, and two in the fifth to enforce the eight-run mercy rule.
Becky McCullough (6-3) got the win for Stanford, allowing five hits and no runs in five innings. Bochenski (1-1) got the loss for the Hornets, allowing one run and three hits in two innings. Rosey Neill paced Stanford’s offensive attack with a home run and three RBIs, and Lindsay Key added two hits, a double and two RBIs.
Tompkins had two hits for the Hornets who squandered an early opportunity to score, stranding runners at second and third base in the first inning. The game against Stanford marked the fifth time this season the Hornets have played a team ranked among the top 12 in the nation. Other games included an earlier loss to Stanford and contests against No. 11 Washington, No. 6 Northwestern and No. 1 Tennessee. The Hornets are 0-5 in those games, and 4-6 against teams not ranked in the top 25.
Sacramento State returns to action tomorrow for the third and fourth rounds of the tournament. The Hornets will take on San Diego State at 10 a.m., and UC Santa Barbara at noon. The team concludes the tournament with a game Sunday against an opponent yet to be determined.
