Feb. 25, 2011
CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. -
Playing its fourth top-10 team and 2010 Women's College World Series opponent in five games, the San Diego State softball team fell to No. 4/5 Florida, 4-2, Friday at the Cathedral City Classic at Big League Dreams Sports Park. The Aztecs, who are receiving votes in the latest ESPN.com/USA Softball poll, dropped to 5-6, while Gators improved to 13-0 with the win and a 4-1 victory later against No. 2/3 UCLA.
SDSU jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning off Florida two-time All-American pitcher Stephanie Brombacher. Brombacher, who came into the game with a 6-0 record and 0.36 ERA over 39 1/3 innings, gave up a one-out infield single to San Diego State senior Jessica Camello (Temecula, Calif.). Sophomore Kamerin May (Corona, Calif.) followed with a double to right-center field for the first run of the contest.
After retiring the first nine batters she faced, Aztec junior pitcher Bailey Micetich (Woodland, Calif.) gave up back-to-back singles to Michelle Moultrie and Aja Paculba to lead off the fourth. SDSU senior All-American Samantha Beasley (San Diego/Steele Canyon HS) relieved Micetich, but allowed a run to score on a Kelsey Bruder single. Beasley, however, got out of the inning by getting Brittany Schutte to pop up to first base and Megan Bush to ground to third baseman Ashley Rose (Antioch, Calif.) in an unassisted double play.
The Gators took the lead in the sixth on an RBI single by Bruder and a sacrifice fly by Bush.
Junior Justeen Maeva (San Diego/Mira Mesa HS) brought San Diego State to within a run at 3-2 in the bottom half on an RBI single that scored pinch-runner Devin Gray (Durham, Calif.).
Paculba singled home Kasey Fagan in the seventh to put Florida up again by two runs and relief pitcher Hannah Rogers shook off a leadoff single by Aztec senior Eva Sahatdjian (Fresno, Calif.) and retired the next three batters in the 4-2 win.
Beasley (1-2) was tagged with the loss after giving up three runs on six hits and three walks over four innings of relief. Micetich allowed one run on two hits, while striking out four, over three innings. The duo limited the Gators, who came into the game with a .361 average, 21 home runs and 21 doubles in 11 games, to eight hits (all singles).
Camello and May each had two hits for SDSU.
San Diego State continues its play in the Cathedral City Classic Saturday against Florida State. The Aztecs and Seminoles, who are receiving votes in both national polls, are scheduled for an 8:30 p.m. PT start.