Junior Jillian Bivert |
GOLETA, Calif. – The Sacramento State softball team had its four-game winning streak snapped, falling in eight innings to Cal Poly, 2-0, Sunday afternoon in the third and final day of the UC Santa Barbara Invitational. With the loss, the Hornets still finish the tournament with a 4-1 record and a second-place finish.Cal was crowned tournament champion after posting a 5-0 record. Prior to today''s loss, the Hornets (8-9 overall) defeated BYU, Providence, Illinois and Iowa State during the first two days of the tournament.
Both team combined for just nine hits in today''s contest as the score remained deadlocked at 0-0 for the first seven innings. Sacramento State starter Jillian Bivert and Cal Poly starter Jennifer Graver both went the first seven with relative ease.
The international tie-breaker rule was instituted for the eighth inning as each team was allowed to place a runner at second base to open the inning.
The Mustangs (9-6) opened the eighth with a Nicole Dansby bunt single that pushed Kaitlyn Wilson (who was placed on second to begin the inning) over to third with no outs. After a walk loaded the bases with one out, Jackie Wayland reached on a fielders choice allowing Wilson to come home with the team''s first run of the inning. Bivert then walked Holly Ballard pushing across another run to increase the score to 2-0. Sophomore Nicole Deatherage relieved Bivert at that point and got out of the bases loaded jam without further damage.
In the bottom of the eighth, the Hornets put runners at second and third with one out before Graver got Mary Villalpando and Cathy Coupar to ground out.
Graver (4-3) got the win, allowing just four hits while striking out five in eight innings. Bivert (3-6) picked up the loss despite allowing just five hits in 7.1 innings of work.
Sacramento State freshman Amy Hillel finished the game 2-for-3 and hit a combined .400 during the five-game tournament.
Bivert and Deatherage carried the team during the tournament as the two combined to go 4-1 with a 0.19 ERA. Deatherage finished the tourney 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA, while Bivert went 2-1 with a 0.98 ERA.
Sacramento State will take a week off before opening its Big West Conference portion of the schedule at Cal State Fullerton on March 9-10. The Hornets and Titans will play two games on Saturday, March 9, before finishing the three-game series with a single game on Sunday, March 10.
