SOFTBALL DROPS A PAIR OF GAMES IN FIRST DAY OF THE AGGIE STAMPEDE
3/26/2010
DAVIS, Calif. – Sacramento State dropped its first two games of the Aggie Softball Stampede Friday afternoon at La Rue Field, falling to tournament host UC Davis (7-5) and 14th-ranked Cal (3-1).
Playing without their top player (Desiree Beltran – ankle), top pitcher (Megan Schaefer – concussion), top run producer (Erin Jones – coach’s decision) and a .320 hitter in Jessica Abelia (hand), Sacramento State found itself at a severe disadvantage. Especially when considering the Hornets are already in a rebuilding mode and started nine underclassmen today. Among those underclassmen were six freshmen and three walk-ons.
Sacramento State dropped to 8-21 overall with the losses and has yet to win a game played on an opponent’s home field (0-8). The Hornets will play twice over the next couple days to wrap up tournament play, including games against UC Riverside tomorrow (9 a.m.) and Sunday (12:30 p.m.).
The loss to the Aggies allowed UC Davis to win the Causeway Cup title. Since the two schools began battling for the all-sports prize in 2004-05, Sacramento State has won three Cup titles (2005-06, 2006-07, 2008-09) while UC Davis has also won three (2004-05, 2007-08, 2009-10).
With just one event (rowing) remaining in the Causeway Cup, UC Davis has already secured enough points (50.84-to-44.16) for the victory in what has turned into one of the closest races for the Cup yet. Usually, men's and women's track and field are two of the last events of the Causeway Cup season, but there was a scheduling conflict by the Aggies that did not allow the teams to compete this year. That hurt Sacramento State’s chances for the Cup as the Hornets have scored the maximum 10 points in track and field each of the last three years.
In the game against UC Davis, Sacramento State had a run taken off the board because of an unreported substitution, and the Aggies were the beneficiaries of a run after an illegal pitch was called on the Hornets. That proved to be the difference as the Hornets fell by two runs.
UC Davis had little trouble against Hornet starter Shelby Voelz, as the Aggies pounded out 12 hits and seven runs. UC Davis put at least one runner at second base in every inning while scoring twice in both the second and third innings, and three more insurance runs in the sixth that gave the Aggies a 7-3 lead. They also left 11 runners on base despite getting just six innings of at-bats.
The Hornets opened the scoring in the top of the first when Jenice Bartee laid down a successful squeeze bunt allowing Alyssa Nakken to score from third. A two-run single from Elizabeth Santana in the third and a two-run double from Kylie Fan in the fourth allowed the Aggies to take a 4-1 lead.
Sacramento State cut the deficit to one run in the fifth after Nakken doubled home both Jillian Canete and Lauren Blair. The Hornets thought they had tied the game in the top of the sixth when Amber Roszkos hit a sacrifice fly allowing Molly Smith to score from third. However, the umpires ruled that the designated player Roszkos, who has been pinch run for in the fifth inning, never reported back in the game. So the run was taken off the board and Blair was credited with an out. Canete flied out in the next at-bat, ending the inning and stranding Smith at third base.
The Aggies (10-19) tacked on three more runs in the sixth, the last of which scored on an illegal pitch. Sacramento State inched closer in the top of the seventh after a two-run double from Marissa Navarro cut the deficit in half to 7-5. However, with the tying run at the plate, the Aggies’ Alex Holmes retired Smith on a grounder to complete the win.
Holmes (7-8) got the win, allowing eight hits and four runs (three earned) while striking out nine batters. Voelz (4-12) went the distance in the loss.
Nakken and Roszkos each had two hits for the Hornets, and six different Hornet starters hit safely in the game.
In the second game of the day, Cal’s Marissa Drewrey (3-0) was one out from a shutout before settling for a 3-1 victory. Drewrey (3-0) struck out 10 while walking none and allowing three hits and a run. Prior to a Smith RBI-grounder scoring Bartee from third base in the seventh inning, the Hornets had not gotten a runner past second base all day. That included a stretch in which Drewrey retired nine batters in a row spanning the first through fourth innings.
Cal scored twice in the third inning on a bases-loaded to walk to Jace Williams and a sacrifice fly from Vernae Sevilla to take a 2-0 lead. The Bears scored once more in the sixth after a wild pitch allowed Jamia Reid to score from third base.
Bartee led off the seventh inning with a triple, and later came around to score on Smith’s grounder.
Pitching against the nation’s 14th-ranked team, Hornet starter Jacquelyn Serrano (1-4) kept the Hornets within striking distance despite allowing six hits and seven walks over seven innings. Serrano stranded nine runners on base.
Bartee (2-for-3) and Nakken (1-for-3) accounted for the Hornets’ three hits in the game. The pair were also the only Hornets to hit safely in both games today.
DAVIS, Calif. – Sacramento State dropped its first two games of the Aggie Softball Stampede Friday afternoon at La Rue Field, falling to tournament host UC Davis (7-5) and 14th-ranked Cal (3-1).
