Feb. 16, 2014
SAN DIEGO -
SDSU 3, SAINT MARY'S 2 (8 INNINGS)
The San Diego State softball team claimed the Campbell/Cartier Classic title with a 3-2 victory over Saint Mary's in eight innings Sunday at SDSU Softball Stadium. It was the Aztecs' (8-2) second Campbell/Cartier Classic championship in the 24 years of the tournament and first since 2008, when they went onto finish with a program-record 44 victories.
At 8-2, SDSU is off to its best 10-game start since 2008 and its third-best start in school history.
Down, 2-0, after Loralie Fitzpatrick hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the fourth inning, San Diego State answered with two runs of its own in the fifth. Junior Hayley Miles (Antelope, Calif.) led off with a double to right-center field. One batter later, senior Patrice Jackson (Kansas City, Mo.) took a 2-1 pitch the opposite way over the right field wall to tie the game at 2-2.
After leaving a pair of baserunners in the seventh, the Aztecs got going in the eighth as junior Kayla Jordan (San Diego/Bonita Vista HS) reached on a bunt single and moved into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt by sophomore Leia Ruiz (Chino, Calif.). Senior Dominique Dinner (Monterey, Calif.) then singled through the right side to plate Jordan with the eventual game-winning run.
The Gaels (4-6) threatened in the bottom half of the eighth after Erica Musgrave reached on an error and moved to second on Cassidy Szeredy's sac bunt. SDSU sophomore Danielle O'Toole (Upland, Calif.), however, got Sarah Lira to fly out to Dinner in left field and, after a four-pitch walk to Andrea Hazel, struck Fitzpatrick out looking to end the game.
O'Toole improved to 7-0 on the season after allowing two runs on four hits and two walks over eight innings, while striking out five.
Jackson led the San Diego State, which outhit SMC, 9-4, once again by going 2-for-2 with two RBIs, a run and two walks. Jackson had walked five consecutive plate appearances before her home run and now has walked 14 times in 36 appearances over 10 games this year.
The Aztecs also received two hits apiece from Dinner and senior Katie Mathis (Grass Valley, Calif.).
SDSU returns to competition next weekend (Feb. 20-23) at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic in Cathedral City, Calif. San Diego State is scheduled to face two teams that were ranked in the latest polls (No. 8/11 Texas A&M and No. 14/18 Missouri), another who made the NCAA tournament last year (Fordham) and perennial powers Northwestern and Oklahoma State. The Aztecs kick off the four-day tournament Thursday with games against Fordham (3 p.m. PT) and Texas A&M (8 p.m. PT).
24th Annual Campbell/Cartier Classic
San Diego, Calif.
February 16, 2014
San Diego State 3, Saint Mary's 2 (8 innings)
San Diego State (8-2) 000 020 01 -- 3 9 3
Saint Mary's (4-6) 000 200 00 -- 2 4 0
O'Toole and Orlando; Mussadi and Hazel
W - O'Toole, 7-0; L - Mussadi, 0-4
HR: Saint Mary's, Fitzpatrick; San Diego State, Jackson (4)