March 18, 2006
HONOLULU - The San Diego State softball team fell to No. 16 Northwestern, 5-2, at the Hawai'i Tournament in Honolulu, Hawaii on Saturday afternoon. The Aztecs (15-8) rallied from a two-run deficit in the fifth inning, but allowed the Wildcats (13-6), who are ranked 16th in the latest ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate poll and 17th in the USA Today/NCFA poll, to score three runs in the top of the seventh to hold onto the win.
Northwestern opened up a 2-0 lead after scoring a run on an SDSU error in the top of the first and adding another in the fifth on a double by Garland Cooper.
The Aztecs battled back in the bottom half of the fifth when freshman Erin Floros had a leadoff single up the middle and advanced to second on a bunt single by sophomore Tamani Wells. Freshman Monica Alnes followed with a single to centerfield to load the bases. The Wildcats' Eileen Canney struck out two consecutive SDSU players before freshman Alysha Daigle's pinch-hit double scored Wells and Floros, knotting the game at 2-2.
However, Northwestern scored three runs in the top of the seventh off a hit batter with the bases loaded, a wild pitch with the bases loaded and an RBI groundout by Jamie Dotson.
Alnes went 2-for-4 for the Aztecs, which outhit the Wildcats, 7-5. Daigle and Wells each had a hit in their only at-bat, and three others added a hit.
Sophomore pitcher Christina Ross (6-5) took the loss after allowing four runs (three earned) on five hits in six-plus innings. She struck out three batters and walked two. Senior Celena Velasquez tossed the final inning for SDSU and gave up one run.
The Aztecs will wrap up their play in the Hawai'i Tournament with a game against Kansas at 11 a.m. HT Sunday.