March 9, 2007
UC Santa Barbara 5, San Diego State 2
Loyola-Chicago 3, San Diego State 0
PALO ALTO, Calif. - The San Diego State softball team dropped a pair of games at the first day of the Stanford Invitational in Palo Alto, Calif., on Friday. The Aztecs (12-8) fell to UC Santa Barbara, 5-2, in the first game and dropped a 3-0 contest to Loyola-Chicago in the nightcap.
In the first game, the Gauchos (14-5) scored in the bottom of the first on an infield single by Brittany Putich and threatened to add some more runs in the third after loading the bases with no outs. SDSU junior pitcher Christina Ross struck out the next three UCSB batters, however, to end the threat.
Sophomore Melissa Owens (San Diego/Mt. Carmel HS) led off the fourth for the Aztecs with a homer to right field to tie the game at 1-1.
The Gauchos answered with three runs of their own in the fifth on a double, a fielder's choice bunt and a sacrifice bunt to take a 4-1 lead.
In the sixth, Owens hit another leadoff home run, this time down the left field line, to bring SDSU within two runs. It was the first time an Aztec hit two homers in a game since Sarah Hershman did the feat against San Jose State on May 8, 1999.
UCSB tacked on the final run of the game in the bottom of the sixth when pinch runner Jackie Conlin scored on a wild pitch by Ross.
Ross (7-4) scattered eight hits and five runs (three earned) over six innings to take the loss for the Aztecs. She struck out six and walked one.
Owens finished 2-for-3 with two runs scored, while junior Tamani Wells (Concord, Calif.) and freshman Brittany Knudsen (San Diego/Escondido HS) had a single apiece.
In the nightcap, the Ramblers (2-7) jumped out to a 3-0 lead in their top of the first inning on a three-run homer by Nora Schober. It would be the only runs of the game as Owens shut out Loyola-Chicago the rest of the game.
Owens (5-6) struck out a career-high 10 batters over seven innings. She allowed eight hits and three runs without issuing a walk.
SDSU, which left eight runners on base in the game, had a chance to put some runs on the board in the sixth when it loaded the bases with one out on consecutive singles and a fielder interference call. Sophomore Dani Sidoti (Tucson, Ariz.) lined a hard shot to Loyola-Chicago shortstop Angie Funston, who then flipped the ball to second baseman Lindsay O'Gean for the double play to end the inning.
Six different Aztecs had a hit in the game, including Wells who also stole her third base of the season.
San Diego State continues its play in the Stanford Invitational with two games on Saturday. The Aztecs face Sacramento State at 10 a.m. and No. 12 Stanford at 2 p.m.