May 1, 2009
SAN DIEGO -
Sophomore Jessica Camello (Temecula, Calif.) singled home senior Tonye McCorkle (Santa Ana Heights, Calif.) in the bottom of the eighth inning to lift the San Diego State softball team to a 5-4 victory over Mountain West Conference-leading Brigham Young Friday night at SDSU Softball Stadium. The Aztecs (32-16, 9-3 MWC), who are receiving votes in both the USA Today/NFCA and ESPN.com/USA Softball national polls, rallied from a four-run deficit with four scores in the seventh, all with two outs.
McCorkle got the eighth inning started when she reached on a throwing error by Cougar (35-18, 8-1 MWC) third baseman Coreen Lopez, one of five errors by BYU in the game. One batter later, McCorkle stole second and moved to third on a wild throw by Brigham Young catcher Jessica Purcell. After a strikeout, Camello chopped a two-out single up the middle for her third game-winning RBI of the season.
The win broke the Cougars' 16-game winning streak and kept SDSU's chances alive at capturing its fifth MWC title in eight seasons.
It appeared San Diego State would suffer its third consecutive loss after quickly getting two outs in the seventh while having to contend with BYU starting pitcher Christie Zinanti, who had given up only two hits at the time. The Aztecs, who gave up three runs with two outs in the seventh in a 3-2 loss to Utah on Thursday night, turned the tables on the opposition this time, however, with a memorable two-out rally.
Freshman Ashley Rose (Antioch, Calif.) started the inning with a pinch-hit single and then was replaced at first by starting second baseman Camello. Sophomore Jen Wisneski (Riverside, Calif.) (single) and junior Brittany Knudsen (San Diego/Escondido HS) (hit by pitch) each reached to load the bases for pinch hitter Christine Kulick (Aliso Viejo, Calif.). Kulick, a senior, battled deep into the count to draw a walk on a 3-2 pitch to give SDSU its first run of the game. With the bases still loaded, senior All-American Erin Floros (San Diego/Mt. Carmel HS) blasted a hit off the glove of Brigham Young first baseman Andrea Ramirez and into center field, which allowed Wisneski and Knudsen to score easily. Freshman Felicia Reifschneider (San Diego/Morse HS), who had gone back into the game for Kulick at first, also scored on the play when the Cougars' Angeline Quiocho mishandled the ball in center. The run tied the game at 4-4 as five straight San Diego State batters reached base with two outs.
Freshman pitcher Bailey Micetich (Woodland, Calif.) preserved the 4-4 score in the top of the eighth with three strikeouts, including fans on BYU's No. 3 (Quiocho) and No. 4 (Purcell) hitters, who came into the game with a combined 22 homers and 109 RBI. Micetich (18-5) finished the inning by striking out Lopez, setting up Camello's game-winning single in the bottom of the frame.
Micetich picked up the well-deserved victory after allowing three hits and a walk over 3 2/3 innings of relief. She struck out four to move into seventh on the Aztec single-season charts with 164. Sophomore Samantha Beasley (San Diego/Steele Canyon HS) yielded four runs on six hits and a walk over 4 1/3 innings as the starter. She did strike out 10, her eighth double-digit strikeout game of 2009, and passed Celena Velasquez (2005) for second on the single-season list with 216.
Quiocho and Ramirez each had two hits and an RBI for Brigham Young, which is also receiving votes in both national polls, while Purcell homered to lead off the second.
San Diego State will meet the Cougars once again in a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. Saturday.