Feb. 7, 2009
Game 1: No. 25 SDSU 5, Pacific 4 | Game 2: No. 25 SDSU 4, Cal Poly 4
LOS ANGELES -
Game 1: No. 25 SDSU 5, Pacific 4 | Game 2: No. 25 SDSU 4, Cal Poly 4
The No. 25 San Diego State softball team pulled off two come-from-behind victories Saturday at the Stacy Winsberg Memorial Tournament in Los Angeles. The Aztecs (2-0) opened their day with a 5-4 win over Pacific, before dispatching Cal Poly, 4-3, on a walkoff infield single in the seventh inning by senior Erin Floros (San Diego, Calif./Mt. Carmel HS).
The walkoff single by Floros came hours after her go ahead two-run single in the sixth gave SDSU its ninth straight season-opening victory. San Diego State began its comeback in the top of the inning; when senior Christine Kulick (Aliso Viejo, Calif.) led off with a single to right-center field. After back-to-back strikeouts, sophomore Jessica Camello (Temecula, Calif.) kept things alive with a single up the middle. After junior Katy Erickson (Tustin, Calif.) replaced Kulick at second base, senior Tonye McCorkle (Santa Ana Heights, Calif.) took a 3-2 pitch and drove it to the left field to score Erickson and put two runners in scoring position. Floros then followed with the game-winning two-run single.
Freshman Bailey Micetich (Woodland, Calif.) overcame a sluggish start in the circle to settle down and pick up her first career win. After giving up three runs in the first, all off a three-run home run by the Tigers' (0-1) Nicole Matson, Micetich allowed just one hit and a walk the rest of the way. For the game, Micetich gave up four runs (three earned) on four hits and a walk over five innings, while striking out two. Sophomore Samantha Beasley (San Diego, Calif./Steele Canyon HS) allowed three hits while striking out four over the final two innings for the save.
After spotting Pacific the three runs and leaving bases loaded with one out in the second, the Aztecs bounced back with two scores in the third frame. Redshirt senior Dani Sidoti (Tucson, Ariz.), who had singled in her first at-bat earlier in the game, laced a double to left-center field to score McCorkle and freshman pinch-runner Felicia Reifschneider (San Diego, Calif./Morse HS).
Matson's double in the fifth scored Paige Emerson with the Tigers' final run, setting up SDSU's decisive sixth inning.
Floros (two RBI) and McCorkle (two runs, one RBI) each went 2-for-3 with a walk to pace the San Diego State offense, which left nine runners on base. Sidoti added two hits and two RBI, while Kulick came through with a pair of singles.
In the second game, the Aztecs struggled offensively but took advantage of five Cal Poly (1-1) errors in a dramatic 4-3 triumph.
After surrendering three runs in the top of the sixth inning and failing to get a runner in scoring position in the bottom half of the frame, things looked bleak for SDSU. Two Mustang errors in the final inning, however, gave San Diego State new life and eventually the victory.
Reifschneider led off with a pinch-hit bunt single, but was thrown out at second on an attempted steal one batter later. Junior Brittany Knudsen (San Diego, Calif./Escondido HS) got the Aztecs' two-out rally started with a walk, followed by a pinch-hit single by redshirt senior Taryin Casillas (San Diego, Calif./Grossmont HS). McCorkle then hit a seemingly routine ball back to the Cal Poly pitcher Pena, who then sailed her toss well over the first baseman's head, which allowed Knudsen to score and, following a throwing error on the right fielder during the same play, moved McCorkle to second. Floros then came through with a walkoff single to the shortstop to give SDSU a 2-0 start to the 2009 season.
Knudsen scored twice, while freshman Ashley Rose (Antioch, Calif.) had an RBI single in her first collegiate at-bat.
Beasley (1-0) went the distance in the circle for San Diego State, scattering three runs on six hits and a walk. She also struck out four Cal Poly batters.
The Aztecs wrap up their play in the Stacy Winsberg Memorial Tournament Sunday with two games. SDSU will take on Cal Poly once again at 11:30 a.m., before playing fourth-ranked and host UCLA at 4:30 p.m.