May 20, 2012
LOS ANGELES -
The San Diego State softball team saw its season come to an end with a 2-1 loss to Hofstra in the NCAA Los Angeles Regional final Sunday at Easton Stadium on the campus of UCLA. The Aztecs finished with a 32-24 record, while the Pride (41-13) won its 20th consecutive game and advanced to play at South Florida next weekend in the NCAA Super Regionals.
It was a pitching duel between two of the best left in the NCAA tournament. Hofstra's Olivia Galati ended up allowing one run on five hits over seven innings. She had six strikeouts and improved to 33-5 on the year.
On the other side, SDSU senior Bailey Micetich (Woodland, Calif.) gave up two runs (one earned) on three hits and two walks over four innings. She had seven strikeouts and ended her four-year career with 611, the third most in program history. For this year's NCAA tournament, Micetich was 2-1 with a 0.39 ERA in 18 innings, striking out 28 against three walks in her three appearances.
Redshirt junior Rebecca Arbino (Clovis, Calif.) replaced Micetich in the circle in the fifth inning and gave up one hit with a strikeout over two innings of relief. She allowed just one earned run in the tournament over nine innings, finishing with a 0.78 ERA.
San Diego State got on the scoreboard in the top of the fourth inning as freshman Kayla Jordan (San Diego/Bonita Vista HS) led off with a single and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by senior Justeen Maeva (San Diego/Mira Mesa HS). After sophomore Lorena Klopp (San Diego/Steele Canyon HS) was hit by a pitch and was replaced by redshirt junior Roshana Lavery (San Diego/Mission Bay HS) at first base, freshman Fiana Finau (San Diego/Hilltop HS) reached on an infield single to load the bases. Junior Kristin May (Corona, Calif.) then grounded out to Hofstra shortstop Becca Bigler to score Jordan from third.
The Pride, however, answered in the bottom half when Tori Rocha's two-out single scored Krista Thorn.
An inning later, Hofstra took the lead on a sacrifice fly by Tessa Ziemba that scored Rachael Senatore. Senatore reached on an Aztec error and later got to third on a passed ball, resulting in the unearned score.
SDSU tried to answer in the sixth when Jordan led off with a single, stole second and moved to third on a groundout by Maeva. Klopp (strikeout) and Finau (groundout), however, were retired in order, leaving Jordan stranded at third.
Senior Ashley Rose (Antioch, Calif.) had a one-out single in the seventh, but sophomore Katie Mathis (Grass Valley, Calif.), who pinch ran for Rose, was left at first after a flyout by redshirt freshman Iris Castaneda (San Diego/Sweetwater HS) and a strike out by Reifschneider.
Jordan had two hits for San Diego State, which outhit the Pride, 5-4. Finau, Reifschneider and Rose had the other hits for the Aztecs.
2012 NCAA Division I Softball Championship
Regionals - Double-Elimination
Easton Stadium - Los Angeles, Calif.
Friday, May 18, 2012
Game 1: San Diego State 1, No. 20/20 Florida State 0
Game 2: Hofstra 7, No. 15/14 UCLA 2
Saturday, May 19, 2012
Game 3: Hofstra 2, San Diego State 0
Game 4: No. 20/20 Florida State 2, No. 15/14 UCLA 1
Game 5: San Diego State 1, No. 20/20 Florida State 0
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Game 6: Hofstra 2, San Diego State 1
San Diego State (32-24) 000 100 0 -- 1 5 1
Hofstra (41-13) 000 110 x -- 2 4 0
Micetich, Arbino (5) and Kr. May; Galati and Crews
W - Galati, 33-5; L - Micetich, 17-8