SOFTBALL SPLITS TWO GAMES AT SEASON-OPENING FRESNO STATE KICKOFF
2/13/2010
FRESNO, Calif. – Sophomore Alyssa Nakken belted a two-run homer in the eighth inning to highlight a 6-3 victory over Pacific in the second game of the Fresno State Softball Kickoff Saturday afternoon at Bulldog Diamond.
In the Hornets’ first game of the day, Sacramento State let a 2-0 lead slip away in a 3-2 loss to tournament host and 25th-ranked Fresno State.
The games marked the first of the season for Sacramento State (1-1) as the team enters the new year with nine newcomers. In fact, the Hornets started freshmen today at third base (Emily McCormick), second base (Erin Jones), designated player (Molly Smith), catcher (Amber Roszkos), left field (Nicole Frayn) and center field (Kelli Frye).
In the victory over Pacific (0-2), Sacramento State scored four times in the top of the eighth inning to break a 2-2 tie. An RBI-single from Frye scored Marissa Navarro, followed later in the inning by Frayn scoring on a wild pitch. Nakken, who was an all-conference selection last season as a freshman, put the game out of reach when she deposited a 3-2 pitch over the left field wall which scored Frye from third.
Pacific closed the gap to three with a run in the bottom of the eighth, but sophomore Shelby Voelz nailed down the last out by inducing Megan Allen to ground out. Voelz (1-1), who picked up the decision in both games, threw 2.2 innings of relief for the win, allowing two hits and one run. Junior Jacquelyn Serrano, who was making her first appearance in the circle since the 2008 season, threw well in just her second career start. The right-hander allowed just two runs and six hits in 5.1 innings.
Frayn finished the game 2-for-3 with two runs and an RBI, and scored the game’s first run in the second inning. Navarro, who got the start at catcher in the second game after Roszkos started the opener, finished 1-for-3 with two runs, including a leadoff double in the fourth. She would later come around to score in the inning.
Sophomore Desiree Beltran, who is the Hornets’ most decorated returner and hit safely in both games today, was injured in the fifth inning after a Pacific player slid into her ankle. She is questionable for tomorrow’s games.
In the opener, the Hornets were on the verge of an upset until Fresno State erased a 2-0 deficit by scoring single runs in the fourth, fifth and seventh innings. Sacramento State got on the board first with a pair of runs in the top of the fourth. With two outs in the inning, Beltran’s RBI-single scored Nakken, and Jones followed with an RBI-double scoring pinch runner Lauren Blair.
However, Fresno State immediately responded with a sacrifice fly from Andrea Ortega in the bottom of the fourth to cut the deficit to 2-1. The Bulldogs pushed another run home in the fifth after Voelz, who was pitching in relief, issued a bases-loaded walk to Michelle Moses.
Sacramento State threatened in the top of the seventh, getting runners at first and second with two outs, but could not score. That set the table for Moses, who lined a two-out, walkoff single to right field scoring Brooke Phillips from third base. On that play, Hornet right fielder Jenice Bartee fielded Moses’ ball and threw a bullet to first in an attempt to get the third out unconventionally at first base. Moses was ruled to have beaten the throw by an eye lash by the first-base umpire.
Sacramento State junior Megan Schaefer, who was making her first start after offseason wrist surgery, threw the four-plus innings. She allowed two runs and five hits while striking out two. Voelz, who took the loss, allowed one run and two hits in 2.2 innings of relief.
Both teams combined for just 11 hits in the game, including four from the Hornets. Bartee, Beltran and Frayn each had singles while Jones’ fourth-inning double was the only extra base hit of the game for either side.
Frayn, Beltran and Jones each hit safely in both games for Sacramento State.
The Hornets return to action tomorrow for the final two games of the two-day tournament. Sacramento State will face these same two teams again, including Fresno State at 2 p.m. and Pacific at 4 p.m.
FRESNO, Calif. – Sophomore 
