May 16, 2008
FRESNO, Calif. -
The No. 19/21 San Diego State softball team had its six-game winning streak snapped with a 4-1 loss to No. 25/24 California Friday night in the first game of the NCAA Regionals in Fresno, Calif. With the loss, the Aztecs (43-16) will face the loser of the Fresno State/Sacramento State game in an elimination game at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, while the Golden Bears (41-24) will face the winner at noon.
SDSU outhit Cal, 7-6, but was unable to convert on some key chances or overcome a crucial error in the sixth inning.
Senior Christina Ross (Santa Clarita, Calif.) (30-13) was tagged with the loss after scattering four runs (two earned) on six hits and four walks over seven innings. She struck out six.
Sophomore Brittany Knudsen (San Diego, Calif./Escondido HS) and senior Tamani Wells (Concord, Calif.) had two hits apiece to lead the offense, while senior Megan McDonald (Glendale, Ariz.) drove in the team's only run.
As she has done all season, Knudsen set the tables for San Diego State en route to the first run of the game. Knudsen blooped a hit to right field and stretched it for a double after the Cal right-fielder Valerie Arioto knocked the ball down on a diving try. After a single to left field by Wells that kept Knudsen at second base, junior Erin Floros (San Diego, Calif./Mt. Carmel HS) moved Knudsen to third on a fielder's choice to the Golden Bear shortstop that got Wells out at second. McDonald then drove in Knudsen with a bloop single over the shortstop for the first run of the game.
After struggling to get anything going the first three innings, California finally got a couple of hits to tie the game at 1-1 in the fourth. Ross, who retired 10 straight batters after giving up a walk to lead off the game, allowed her first hit when Gina Leomiti singled to right field with one out. After a foul out, Katie Vickers doubled off the left field wall to plate Leomiti with the tying run.
Cal threatened again in the fifth after Ross walked Taylor Kelly and Arioto with two outs. Erica Racklin then bounced a shot up the middle that appeared to get through the infield. SDSU second baseman Lindsey Marquez (Tustin, Calif.), however, dove to her right, got up and rifled a throw home to McDonald who easily tagged Kelly out at home, keeping the game tied at 1-1.
San Diego State got Knudsen (fielder's choice) and Wells (infield single) to second and third with two outs but were unable to take the lead as junior Tonye McCorkle (Santa Ana Heights, Calif.) grounded out to third base to end its threat.
The Golden Bears didn't waste their next opportunity in the sixth and did all their damage with two outs. Leomiti singled and moved to second on a groundout. After a four-pitch walk with first base open to California's big hitter Sanoe Kekahuna, Vernae Sevilla hit a hard grounder to Aztec freshman shortstop Jen Wisneski (Riverside, Calif.), who misplayed the ball to load the bases for Julia Meyer. Meyer took advantage of the SDSU error with a two-run single to center, giving Cal its first lead of the game at 3-1.
Leomiti, who finished the game with three hits, hit a solo homer in the seventh to stretch The Golden Bears' lead to 4-1.
San Diego State made a game out of it in the seventh after freshman Jessica Camello (Temecula, Calif.) led off with a pinch-hit infield single and pinch-hitter Dani Sidoti (Tucson, Ariz.) reached on a throwing error by California's Melissa Drewrey. On the play, both Camello and Sidoti moved up a base to put runners on second and third with no outs. The Aztecs failed to get the runners across, however, as Drewrey induced three consecutive groundouts, the first by Wisneski and the next two by Knudsen and Wells, ending the game in favor of the No. 3 seeded Golden Bears.
Drewrey went the distance for California, allowing one run on seven hits. She struck out five without issuing a walk.
| Postgame Reaction - Aztecs vs. California |