SOFTBALL POWERS ITS WAY TO DOUBLEHEADER SWEEP OF NEVADA
3/7/2012
Devin Caldwell connected on her first career home run, an opposite-field grand slam in the second game
RENO, Nev. -- A chilly day in Reno didn’t affect Sacramento State’s hot bats as the team combined for 17 runs and 22 hits over two games as the Hornets swept Nevada in a non-conference softball doubleheader Wednesday afternoon at Hixson Park.
With temperatures dipping into the low 40’s, Sacramento State won the first game, 7-6, in eight innings, before using a nine-run fifth inning to post a mercy-rule shortened 10-1 victory in the nightcap.
As a team, the Hornets hit .373 (22-for-59) during the doubleheader with four doubles, two home runs, 14 RBIs and 32 total bases. Second baseman Devin Caldwell (5), catcher Marissa Navarro (5) and third baseman Emily McCormick (4) all combined for at least four RBIs in the doubleheader. A three-run homer from Navarro and a grand slam from Caldwell highlighted the nine-run fifth inning of the second game. The grand slam was the first homer of Caldwell’s intercollegiate career, and the round tripper for Navarro was her third in the last six games. Among those three home runs for Navarro have been a grand slam and a pair of three-run shots.
With the win, the Hornets have won three straight and four of their last five games while improving to 10-8. Nevada dropped to 5-17 with the losses.
In the Hornets’ 10-1 victory, both teams were deadlocked in a 1-1 tie through four innings before Sacramento State unleashed with nine runs and nine hits in a fifth inning that never seemed to end. The Hornets sent 14 batters to the plate in the inning, and Navarro recorded both a three-run homer and an RBI-double during the fame. In between those two run-producing at-bats for Navarro was Caldwell’s grand slam, an opposite-field shot that came on a 2-1 pitch.
Navarro finished the game 4-for-4 with a run, double, home run and career-high five RBIs. She now leads the team with five multi-RBI games this season and has a robust 18 RBIs this season. Caldwell went 3-for-4 with two runs and career-high four RBIs, Alyssa Nakken went 2-for-4 with a career-high tying three runs scored, and Kelly Shepard went 2-for-3.
Right-hander Taylor Stroud (7-3) picked up her seventh win of the season, throwing two innings of shutout relief while allowing just a hit and a strikeout. Freshman starter Caitlin Brooks was effective in her three-plus innings of work, allowing two hits and one run. Mallary Darby (4-6) worked the first four-plus innings for Nevada, and took the loss.
In the opener, Sacramento State led the entire way until a three-run sixth inning from Nevada tied the score at 5-5. The Hornets scored a pair of runs in the first inning after Caldwell scored on a wild pitch and Shannon Kaufman later came around to score on a Nevada error. The Wolf Pack scored a run of their own in the first inning before the Hornets scratched another run across in the second after an RBI-single from McCormick put the team up, 3-1.
After another run from Nevada in the third, Sacramento State tacked on two more runs in the fourth on a two-out, two-run double from McCormick. Two innings later, Nevada tied the game at 5-5 with a three-run sixth on the strength of a two-run double from Karley Hopkins and an RBI-single from Lauren Lastrapes.
With the score tied after seven innings, the international tiebreaker rule went into effect to begin the eighth. Alyssa Nakken was placed on second base to start the inning and was moved over to third on a sacrifice bunt from Kelli Frye. Nakken would eventually score on fielding error by Nevada second baseman Caylin Campbell, and a two-out RBI-single from Caldwell later in the inning gave the Hornets a two-run cushion.
Nevada got an RBI-single to begin its eighth inning, but Hornet starter Shelby Voelz stuck out Campbell for the first out, and induced Lastrapes to line into a double play to end the game.
Voelz (2-1) went the distance in the win, allowing 12 hits and six runs (five earned) in eight innings. Karlyn Jones (1-4) picked up the loss, allowing three hits and two unearned runs in 4.1 innings of relief.
Caldwell finished the game with two hits, McCormick had three hits and three RBIs, and Jessica Abelia had a pair of hits as well.
The Hornets return to action later this week when the team plays at the three-day, four-game Aggie Stampede II in Davis. Sacramento State will play two times against both Idaho State and host UC Davis during the tournament, beginning Friday at 11 a.m. against the Bengals.
NOTES -- Caldwell now has a six-game hitting streak, matching the longest of her career…Kaufman was pulled from the first game in the sixth inning with a bone bruise, and did not play in the nightcap as a precaution…Caldwell (2B) and Nakken (1B) are the only Hornets on the team to start at the same position in all 18 games.
